Fortune Telling
by alli-sun
Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

ATTENTION READERS. You can access the revised version of this fic at h t t p : / / c o m m u n i t y . l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m / p e n n e d _ a 1 1 i _ s u n / 1 7 1 9 . h t m l (take out the spaces)

.:Chapter 1:.

_(Sokka's POV)_

"How long is this gonna take?" Sokka asked. He was annoyed, and he had every right to feel that way, in his opinion. He _hated_ this town! He hated how they relied on some cracked-up old woman, and how they did the craziest things after listening to her.

"Don't you want to spend the night here?" Katara asked. "It's a comfortable and sanitary place, and I'm sure the people in this village will be glad to give us our dinner meal. After all, Aang was the one who saved them from the volcano."

Sokka's eyebrow twitched. Why, oh why, did his _little_ sister have to be so smart and practical? What was her _problem?_

He glanced over to Aang. He was rather worried about his Avatar friend, for he had been acting odd this past week. He was quieter then usual, there was almost no trace of the hyperactive-little-kid attitude. And he had often seen Aang just staring into space with the weirdest expression on his face. It wasn't describable, not if you used one word. It looked like a mixture of confusion, thoughtfulness, and maybe even fear.

At the moment, Aang had caught Sokka's stare and forced his lips to tug up into a smile. "It's probably not going to take long," He said, "Unless you guys want to get your fortunes, then we're going to camp out tonight."

Sokka let out a whoop of joy, while Katara frowned. "Well, I guess that's okay then. I'm going to get some food for our dinner," And she walked out. Aang stared after her. Usually, Sokka would joke about the two "love birds", but there was something different about this stare. It didn't look like Aang was admiring his sister, instead Aang looked at her with the same calculating frown he'd had on throughout the entire week.

"Yo, Aang, are you okay?" Sokka asked in his most casual voice. Aang let out a yelp as he jumped in surprise.

"I'm fine!" He said loudly. Sokka quirked an eyebrow, and Aang sighed. "Really, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Okay…" Sokka said. He looked like he really wanted to say more, but a pretty young girl had entered the room. Sokka stared at her, and it was only after he looked extremely carefully at her when he had realized who she was. "Meng?" He said in surprise. The girl grinned. She had gone through puberty, as well as her growth spurt, and her teeth had grown out. It was amazing how those little differences made a huge impact on her appearance.

"Yep, it's me!" She said cheerfully, and glanced hopefully towards Aang. Sokka saw that he was looking at Meng with the same, confused expression, but he snapped out of it.

"Hey," He said. "Is Aunt Wu there?"

"She was expecting you," Meng said proudly. "And so was I! I'm really getting good at this, I've already made some predictions for people, and they even came true!"

"That's great," Aang said, and stood up to leave. Sokka looked back at Meng.

"What kind of predictions were those?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well," She began, "Today, I predicted that the fruit cart would sell fruit for people's breakfasts, mainly oranges. And a few days ago, I predicted that it would be colder in the morning, and warmer at noon, and colder again in late afternoon. And on the same day…"

But Sokka seemed to have zoned out. He didn't hear her voice, he was wondering what was wrong with Aang. Why was he staring at girls with that weird frown? Why was he so quiet all of a sudden? Sokka's eyebrows twitched once again in annoyance as Meng's voice seemed to grow louder and louder. And why, why, _why_ did they have to come back here?

_(Aang's POV)_

Aang stared as Katara walked out. He should like her, he should like her very much. She was pretty, smart, a wonderful water-bender, she was perfect for the Avatar. Why didn't he like her?

He knew that answer.

He just didn't want to admit.

"Yo, Aang, are you okay?" Aang jumped.

"I'm fine!" Aang snapped, much louder then usual. He saw Sokka's eyebrow raise, and sighed. "Really, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

He'd been lying a lot lately.

"Okay…" Sokka said. At that moment, a girl entered. Aang looked up. Within moments, he recognized Meng, the girl who had had a crush on him. She was much prettier now, and taller too, and her hair didn't look like a giant poof ball. He should be attracted to her. He wasn't.

"Meng?" Sokka said in surprise. Meng grinned, and Aang noticed that her teeth had grown out.

"Yep! It's me!" She said, and she made sure to flash that smile towards Aang. Aang's mouth twisted into a frown.

Why?

Why?

_Why?_

No, this wasn't polite. He shouldn't act this way, he was the Avatar. "Hey," He said in acknowledgement. "Is Aunt Wu there?"

"She was expecting you," Meng said proudly. "And so was I! I'm really getting good at this, I've already made some predictions for people, and they even came true!"

"That's great," Aang said, and stood up to leave. Sokka's and Meng's voices faded behind him as he walked down the corridor. It was vaguely familiar to him, and it brought back the memories when he had had that huge crush on Katara.

Dammit, _why?_

"Hello, Aunt Wu," He said politely when he saw the old woman in front of him. She had a strange, knowing smile on beneath heavy cosmetics. "Are we going to use the bones?"

"No, no," She said, "There's no need for bones. I'll revert to the basic methods. Come in," And she gestured towards an opened door. He walked in, and she followed.

"So, how has the past week been?" Aunt Woo said, as if she was trying to start a conversation. Aang stared.

"Huh?" He said.

"How has the past week been?" She repeated patiently.

"Well, okay, I guess," He said slowly. She shook her head.

"Trust me, young Avatar," She said. "If you come to me with your questions, I will provide better answers.

Aang looked nervously at the woman in front of him. He looked nervously at the small fire next to them, he looked nervously at his pants, he looked nervously at the door.

"I'VE BEEN HAVING DREAMS," He yelled. "I've been having dreams the last week. I don't like Katara anymore, I don't feel anything towards Meng, and they're both gorgeous. I'm confused, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, what I'm supposed to think, how I'm supposed to feel, I don't know ANYTHING! I've been having dreams about…about…"

"No, stop, let me guess this one," Aunt Woo said slyly. "It is a he."

"You…uh…he…Yeah," Aang said, and he rubbed his neck in an embarrassed gesture.

"He is a powerful bender."

Nod.

"He has a wild temper."

Nod, and a small giggle.

"His name starts with a Z," She said with a rather scary smile.

Nod.

"U…"

Nod.

"K…"

Aang's head had disappeared, and in its place was a giant red tomato, bobbing up and down in agreement.

"Now, really, Avatar, must I go on?"

Aang gave a shuddering breath. "You're right," Aang said. "I mean, about Zu—the guy."

"Tell me what the dreams are like," She said.

"Well…" Aang began, then saw her facial expression. "Not like _that_!" He cried in outrage. "No, I mean…well…" He growled and hit himself in the head.

"Okay, here's the deal," He said. "So the first dream was with Iroh. He just walked up to me, and said 'The Avatar gives Zuko hope…the Avatar gives Zuko hope…the Avatar gives Zuko hope…' over and over again. And then he disappeared, and I woke up.

"The second dream had all the past Avatars in it. And they were all with this other person. Avatar Roku was with this woman with amber eyes. Avatar Kyoshi was with this man who also had amber eyes. And so on."

Aang waited for Aunt Woo to say something, but she seemed indifferent, almost casually interested, as if he was telling her a nice story.

"So then I had the third dream. And…and Zuko was in it," Aang swallowed, but continued. "Actually, there were different Zuko's. There was Zuko as I see him, with his scar and everything. And then there was him as a little kid, smiling at me and asking me to play with him. He said he wanted me to be his best friend, he said he liked me even though I had this weird arrow on my head.

And then, there was another him, lying down," Aang said. His eyes showed sorrow for what he had seen in his dream. "He had this wet cloth over his left eye, and he was crying. And then he turned and talked to me. He said that he deserved it, and it was just a test, and he would be okay. And he would find me, the Avatar. He spoke like he didn't know I was the Avatar, but that made sense, because he didn't know me then." Aang felt a small tear creep out of his left eye. "He…he was crying really bad.

"The last dream was the one I had last night, and that made me wanna go talk to you. See, we were in this small room, and we were talking. I was crying, and I felt really scared and sad. His eyes were red, but he didn't cry. He was talking to me, and I talked back, but I didn't even feel my own mouth moving. He said—" Aang stopped and blushed.

"Aang, the sooner you tell me everything, the sooner you will know everything," Aunt Woo said calmly. She seemed extremely interested now, almost giddy with excitement. Aang nodded.

"Okay. He said that…he would always love me. No matter what happened. And that we would get out of this okay. And I said that…that…" Aang took a deep breath. "That I loved him too," His voice sounded extremely high, "And we kissed."

Aang wished he could melt. Or sink in the ground. Or just disappear altogether. But Aunt Woo gave the strangest giggle. "I understand your embarrassment. Why don't we find Maang and get some tea and rice balls? Then we will discuss."

Aang nodded and followed her towards the door. But when she opened the door, a boy crashed down towards the floor. A certain water tribe boy, with brown hair and tanned skin.

"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed. He was now redder than ever. Sokka gave a lopsided grin.

"Hi."

A/N – Thank you for checking this out, and please review so I can see what you think. Criticism, praise, and flames are welcome. Actually, only flame if you don't like the quality, I don't want to hear ANYTHING about how "disgusting" yaoi is.

I have corrected my spelling. _Maang_ and _Woo_ no more, _Meng_ and _Wu_ has taken their place. Thank you for correcting me, and look for the second chapter! n-n


	2. Chapter 2

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

A/N – Never before have I gotten as many reviews for the first chapter. I'm really lazy, so I did not respond to all of the wonderful reviews, but I'd like to thank the following people for taking the time to R/R:

MischiefxManaged

MysticAnime

EE's Skysong

HanChan (anonymous)

loalaa

bloody-black-valentine

libowiekitty

bekett

Sconemeep

.:Chapter 2:.

_(Katara's POV)_

Katara stood in the middle of the market, listening to people's chatter and going-on's, and hearing the distant call of the fruit-stand seller. "Papayas! Papayas, and mangos for sale, half price, come n' get'em!" She smiled as she remembered her past foolishness of relying completely on Aunt Wu's fortunes, just to be proven wrong.

"Mango, or a papaya," She said under her breath, and giggled. She could've hit herself for her stupidity, but instead she purchased a few mangos and kept on looking at other stands.

She counted down the boys' favorites. Sokka tried to be as manly as he could possibly be (Katara snorted) and would prefer to eat a heaping plate of meat. Aang really wasn't picky, though he preferred sweets and the interesting-looking foods just for the sake of poking and sniffing them.

Katara frowned. Aang. The sweetest, most innocent boy she had ever met. While the rest of the world warred on, he remained fun loving, honest as a child but as strong as a man. She loved him dearly as her little brother and friend, and all she wanted was the best for him.

What she could not figure out, however, was why he wanted to come back here. There wasn't anything he particularly liked about this town. It was nice and pretty, and had a fortune-teller, but she had heard what Aunt Wu had said. _You can shape your own destiny_, or something of the sort, so there was really no need for a Seer to help the gang.

Katara remembered when Aang announced that they were about to go see Aunt Wu. He looked pale, and slightly sick. His large grey eyes stared at her, not with the usual bright sparkle of enthusiasm, but with confusion and anxiety. And she just could not understand.

She jumped in surprise as the distant sounds of yelps and scuffling reached her ears. Her eyes widened when she heard someone yell out, "Sokka!" and she knew without a doubt that they were in trouble.

"Aang, Sokka, I'm coming!" Katara cried out, dropping her basket in a hurry and ran back to Aunt Wu's, oblivious to the yells and complaints of the villagers.

"What could be happening, what could be happening?" She moaned underneath her breath. Who could find them here? She hadn't seen Zuko or Azula for a while, and she was thankful for that. Could they have united? Could they have joined forces and hunted the gang downed? Katara let out a small scream of horror and kept on running.

"Aang! Sokka!" Katara cried out, hurrying in with her water ready at hand.

There was Aang and Sokka, but they were certainly not in the state she had expected them to be. Aang was slightly red, from fury or embarrassment she had no idea, and was breathing hard and glaring at Sokka. Sokka, on the other hand, was moaning loudly about injustices and other junk with one hand over his eye.

"I…you…w-what happened?" Katara said, bewildered, and she lowered her fighting stance slightly. Aang turned his head sharply towards her.

"This guy over here," He said loudly, pointing towards Sokka, who moaned louder, "Has absolutely _no_ respect for private conversation."

Katara turned red. Oh, so they hadn't been in mortal danger. And Zuko and Azula weren't here either. Quickly regaining her posture, she rounded on her brother in an attempt to cover up her embarrassing entrance. "Sokka, were you spying on Aang and Aunt Wu?" She snapped.

"No!" Sokka snapped defensively, and Katara and Aang both glared at him. "No, really!" They continued to glare. "Don't you guys wanna hear my side of the story! Katara, how could you trust Aang and not your own brother."

Katara sniffed, and she put her nose up in the air. "It's rude to just eavesdrop on people's conversations, Sokka."

"That's rich coming from the girl who would always sneak around to see who's courting who, who's wearing what, who's—" Katara silenced him with a quick _slap!_

"So," She said to Aang after many deep breaths. "Did you find the answer you were looking for?"

"Uh—" Aang's cheeks turned slightly redder. "No, not quite yet."

"Sokka interrupted you guys, didn't he?" Katara said knowingly, and shook her head and sighed.

"Oh, yeah, he did," Aang said quickly. "I need to go back and talk to Aunt Wu now. Meng's gonna come here and keep you guys company. Bye!" And he went off.

_(Aunt Wu's POV)_

After much persuasion, Aunt Wu finally managed to convince Aang that Sokka heard none of his dreams. She did not feel his spirit near the door until after Aang explained his concerns to her, so he could not have heard anything important. Naturally, Aang disagreed and put up a small verbal fight, and even after she convinced him, he shot the dirtiest look a twelve-year-old could ever conjure towards the water tribe boy and followed me back to the room.

"Would you like some tea?" Aunt Wu asked, setting her tea tray down on a small stool in between them. Aang shook his head politely. She shrugged (_Oh well, more for me_) and poured herself the piping hot tea.

"I will be blunt with you Avatar," She said after a long sip. "Because you have a short temper, and you rather prefer if people came out and told you the truth instead of beating around the bush."

Aang stared at her, slightly frightened that she knew so much. "Uh, thank you," He said, though the tone indicated more of a question then statement.

"Zuko is your soul mate."

At first, Aang did nothing. He merely stared at her with his huge, grey eyes. They both sat like this for a few seconds, and Aunt Wu wrapped her fingers around her tea set in preparation. Then he shot up from the ground and screamed.

"WHAT?"

The stool went flying up in the air, and the tea set would have been a goner as well if Aunt Wu hadn't lifted it from the stool a jiffy before Aang exploded.

"Are you…are you _joking?_" Aang wheezed out, breathing hard. The whole meaning of those one…two…five words seemed to have seeped into his brain, and the impact seemed heavy. His face had become pale, and his eyes were wide and glittering.

"You're not upset," Aunt Wu said, silently giggling to herself as she retrieved the stool and tea set. She was really enjoying herself, sipping her tea and watching the Avatar turning from ashy-white to bright pink.

"I—okay, I might not be…_upset_ really," He stuttered, and his face was beginning to turn red. "It's just…how?"

"Aang," She said, setting her teacup down. This time, when she spoke, it sounded like she was handling a business matter. "Consider the dream in which you saw the past Avatars with that one other person. You recalled Kyoshi with a man, and Roku with a woman, and all these people had amber eyes."

Aang nodded. His face began to cool down, but still remained fairly warm. Aunt Wu regarded this as hilarious, but she forced herself not to laugh.

"The Avatar is no the only one who can be reincarnated over time," She explained. "There is a spirit called Chang Ai, known for its significant amber eyes. It is reincarnated along with the Avatar spirit, as the Avatar's _soul mate_. And once the Avatar has found and recognized his or her Chang Ai, then balance and peace will be restored, eventually."

Aang's face immediately heated up again, but he managed to talk. "Um, I don't really understand."

"Aang," Aunt Wu said. Her tone had become extremely serious, and she stared straight into Aang's eyes. "Once the Avatar finds his or her Chang Ai, their great powers combine and the result is shared between them. Once the Avatar finds his or her Chang Ai, then the balance of the four nations is achievable."

"Oh," Aang said awkwardly, withering under her gaze. "It's not…achievable to store balance with the—I mean, my—Chang Ai?"

"It is definitely more difficult, perhaps nearly impossible," Aunt Wu said. "But you are avoiding something that you cannot avoid. Aang, you have found your Chang Ai, but now you must recognize that."

Aang gulped nervously. "A-and how do I do that?" He said after a long and painful silence, but he already knew the answer to that, Aunt Wu was sure of it.

"You sleep with him."

Her tea set went flying again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – I know that I responded to some reviews saying that I would update over the weekend. So sorry, I was busy, but here you have it! The second chapter!

This was the oddest weekend ever. On Friday I came home screaming because of my report card. Get this everybody, all A's! Actually, seven A's and four A-'s, but it hardly matters. On Saturday, I did about a billion loads of laundry. And on Sunday my Dad was in the worst mood ever, and when he's in those moods the best thing for me to do is avoid the computer at all costs.

So now that you've read the second chapter, then please do me the courtesy of reviewing and pointing out all the stupid mistakes I have. It will help both you and I. n-n


	3. Chapter 3

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

A/N – Thank you for all your kind reviews. This story is going to be officially set in a sort of AU, where Zuko and Iroh are not living in a teashop in Ba Sing Se. Zuko is still on the hunt for the Avatar with his uncle.

.:Chapter 3:.

_(Iroh's POV)_

Iroh observed the steaming cup in his hand, sniffing and poking and peering in the silvery-white wisps of smoke. He put it down, picked it up, and put it down again, peering at it with a quirked eyebrow. After some (okay, a lot) of time, he finally gulped it down with one sweeping motion.

"Why, this is excellent!" He exclaimed, and smacked his lips together with satisfaction. "Mixing tea leaves together! Nephew, that is the most wonderful idea!"

He grinned at the boy sitting across from him in the corner, who didn't give any recognition that he had spoken and continued to grimace at the wall. They were sitting in the ship's "sitting room", though Iroh had turned it recently into his "tea-experiment room" ever since he had complained of boredom, or as close from complaining as he could be. And thanks to his wonderful nephew, he was now spending enjoyable time as a "tea-chemist".

Zuko muttered something about, "sarcasm," and "what've I done," but it could not be heard over the aloud ponderings of Iroh, who was now wondering how temperature affected the taste.

"—As a fire bender, I should be able to freely experiment with change in temperatures. And the spices that could be added! Why, I should start recording these findings! I'll see if I have any spare scrolls I may use and—"

The ship skidded to a stop, and both men looked up, one with mild alarm and one with annoyance.

"_We're landing for supplies1_" Came the distant shout of a crewmember. "_We had meant to tell you earlier, Prince Zuko and General Iroh, but we didn't want to disturb you!"_

"It's fine!" Iroh called back. "What sort of location is this?"

"_Part of the Earth Kingdom! There's a trading center in the village 'bout half a mile from the shore!"_

There was a sudden noise from the corner, and Iroh turned to find that Zuko had stood up.

"I'm going out," Zuko said in a tone that was clearly not to be argued with. But he never had much of an effect on his uncle, who raised his eyebrows.

"Are you sure, nephew? The Earth Kingdom is a powerful nation. What if someone recognizes you as a member of the fire nation? The _Prince_ of the Fire Nation?"

"I can take care of myself," Zuko said shortly, and he slammed the door behind him.

_(Zuko's POV)_

People often asked why he was so grumpy all the time. They asked why he always wore that scowl on his face and never a smile. They asked why he never wanted to join in on pleasant conversation, and instead just sit in the corner, alone with his arms crossed and eyes downcast. They asked why he was _Zuko_.

Zuko kicked a poor stick that had happened to be in his way aside, and decided that this was not punishment enough for the stick and crushed it with his foot.

"That's what my father did to me," He growled at the stick. "I defied him unintentionally and he smashed the human out of me." The stick stared back at him. "Don't look at me like that." The stick continued to stare. It was after a short while when he realized how ridiculous this must look, and walked on.

There was nothing wrong with him, there was something wrong with other people. If they knew how much suffering he had gone through, if they knew every damnable thing he had encountered and if they knew about the kind of luck he had then they would be as grumpy as him and worst. Zuko was fire nation royalty for a reason. He was tough, he was strong, and through all his suffering, he had learned valuable lessons.

Zuko stepped on a few more twigs, but ignored them and moved on. For once, his crew had chosen a good location to land. The dock wasn't too public, the village wasn't too far away, and the land between his ship and the village was relatively flat. But then again, these were positives for the good-for-nothing crew his father had thrown at him. He had become partial to the landing area because he spied a raised cliff overhead, not too small, not too tall, with enough trees around it for privacy. And that was just what he needed.

He began the climb the rocky cliff towards the ledge, and tried his best to keep thoughts out of his head. Zuko was saving his thinking time for the moment when he could sit down and relax. Or come as close to relaxing as he could, for he doubted that there had ever been a moment in his life where he was fully relaxed, and there probably wouldn't be in the future. Zuko scowled and began stomping on the dirt and rock.

A father who hated him. A _little_ sister who bettered him. And a mother who abandoned him.

Zuko shook his head. No, don't think. Don't think until…

Now.

He stopped in sudden awareness, he had not known that he was already in his destination. Zuko sat next to a large tree, with moss growing on its trunk and roots, and spreading outwards in the ground with soft grass mixing in. He let out a sigh.

Now he could think.

But where to start? _How_ to start? His goal was to come out and have time where he could release at least some of the tension that had built up the past week.

Zuko growled in frustration and shook his head roughly. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT, why could he do _anything_—

Something silver caught his eye, and Zuko looked up and was suddenly aware of the night sky, highlighted with the glow of a quarter moon, or whatever it was called. He wasn't a water-bender, he shouldn't associate himself with the moon, but as he tilted his head the pure whiteness of the moon reminded him of a smile, of a certain someone.

Zuko knew where to start.

"So," He said softly, and the word echoed slightly amongst the trees, and over the salty ocean air. He gave a small, awkward cough. Zuko had established where to start, and now he needed to know how to start. _How_?

"Mom," He murmured, and the moon seemed to shimmer. Zuko leaned back on the tree and into the moss. "Mom, I feel like there's something I should know. I feel like someone needs to tell me something. And I'm not sure what. I just…know that it's important. Well, it's kind of impossible to know that _it's_ important when you don't even know what _it_ is. But I really do think that there's something big coming along, and I think that I'm involved. It's crazy, dammit, I know, but…" He was quiet for a moment, and he stared up at the serenity of the moon. He was reminded of two people as he admired the power that seemed to radiate off in silver rays. Both had smiles that seemed to imprint themselves in his mind.

Zuko was now aware that he was taking in quiet breaths, and that his eyebrows weren't knitted in the usual frustration or concentration, and his mouth was not twisted in a frown. He still felt the tension in his muscles and in his stomach, but he did indeed feel more relaxed then he had ever felt before. He felt one of the corners of his mouth twitch for a second, as if his mouth was commanding him to smile, but that moment past and he stomped back down the cliff with a scowl.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Yes, I know, there's no boy/boy action yet, but trust me on this one, the lemon will hit you in the face and sting your eyes. n-n


	4. Chapter 4

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 4:.

_(Aang's POV)_

Aang had been running for some time now, dodging trees and leaping over rocks and stones and roots. After he had developed a rhythm in running, he reminded himself why he was running at _human_ pace when he could be running in _Avatar_ pace.

He was stupid.

The truth was, he really couldn't find any other way to tell Zuko that they had to…er…yes, and when he saw him in the village, he did not even fight. He did not air-bend, he did not do anything to protect Katara and Sokka, he ran. He ran, in hopes that Zuko would chase after him, and he was correct, because with every burst of fire aimed at him from behind came the familiar yells and grunts of _"Hya!"_ and he dodged each one.

Aang ran, and Aang continued to run as he spotted a cliff ledge up ahead. On the spur of the moment, he decided that that would be the place, the perfect place, and his legs pounded into the ground with anxiety with a strange sort of excitement. He could feel Zuko running faster behind him as well, though.

Stop.

Aang arrived, on the cliff and in the fresh open air, and he abruptly turned around and faced the prince. Zuko was panting after running so fast, after all it was an air-bender's special ability to be a quick runner, and a fine layer of sweat was evident on his face and muscled neck. His eyes flickered from the ground towards Aang's direction, and the glowing amber became more evident. Aang felt that strange excitement again.

"I don't want to fight you!" He called out, but Zuko did not listen. He had caught his breath and charged straight into Aang and fire burst out from his fist. Aang leaped up and landed on the other side, facing Zuko and the open ocean.

"Listen to me!" Aang said. "I-I have to tell you something." His voice faltered and he could feel his cheeks turn slightly pink from embarrassment.

Zuko rolled his eyes and held his stance. "What could possibly be that important, Avatar?" He demanded, and when Aang did not answer, he charged once again under the assumption that it was not as crucial as he claimed.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Aang watched Zuko sprint towards him, with beautiful flames surrounding him. For such destructive weapons, he thought vaguely, the fire emphasized those amber eyes of his, and it was truly very beautiful. Aang felt as if something was pushing him forward, and he decided to obey and leaned forward. He had not meant for it to turn out like this, heck, Aang had no idea he would ever be doing this, and with all thoughts gone from his mind he tilted his head and his lips landed on Zuko's.

_(Zuko's POV)_

Why?

It was the first and only sane word that seemed to be able to run through Zuko's mind. Why? Why was the Avatar doing this? Why hadn't he moved yet? Why was he…leaning in?

But that one word did not survive long, and in its place came—

_Yesss…_

It came out of his mouth in a hiss, unintentionally, and he suddenly found himself enjoying the Avatar's soft lips on his own. Zuko's own, half-lidded eyes met the half-lidded, grey eyes of the boy in front of him. The kiss was innocent and pure, and yet the soft heat of it, the very feel of it, was very arousing to Zuko. His eyes closed fully, and as he wound his arms around a slim waist he could feel hands on his neck and chest. He could feel his aggressive, fire nation nature coming in and the kisses became slightly more harsh and demanding.

And then it stopped.

Zuko broke away from the Avatar, and through great gasps for air he stared at him in bewilderment. The Avatar seemed to be in a baffled state as well, with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, mouth open and, well, appetizing.

"I—" Aang began softly, but Zuko slammed his mouth against his and broke him off. He had hormones, he had needs, and he was seized with the sudden desire to take a hold of the Avatar and imprint his taste in his mind forever. Aang's open mouth, ready for speech, gave Zuko the wonderful opportunity of slipping his tongue in and exploring the cavern with a burning curiosity. He ran his tongue along the Avatar's lips before he met the hesitant tongue of his victim.

Not much time had passed by, and before Zuko felt the Avatar's tongue firing up at once and battling his own. He grinned, and there was a fierce fight for dominance that was probably never going to be won, but very pleasant all the same.

Zuko suddenly felt hands pulling away, and he tightened his grip. The word _why_ had popped up back in his mind again, but it was not with the same manner as before. This time, he wanted to know _why_ the Avatar would pull away, _why_ he would refuse, when they were perfectly fine the way they were.

"I…I need to say something," The Avatar gasped. "Ple-please?"

Zuko growled and gruffly gripped the other boy's shoulders so that they could face each other. "_What?_" He snapped.

"I-I…I…you…"

"Get on with it," Zuko said. He was in an extremely bad mood at the moment, and his attention span for conversation was extremely low. At the moment, he had more of an interest for something else, and he eyed the Avatar's strange clothes and wondered how the damn things came off.

"I…you're my Chang Ai and we're supposed to sleep together so I can fulfill my duty as the Avatar!" The Avatar said quickly. That snapped Zuko out of his trance, and he stared at the Avatar, wide-eyed and bewildered. Before he had time to completely, however, the Avatar turned and ran, leaving Zuko alone on the ledge.

oOo

When Zuko came back to the village, much later then the Avatar, his uncle stared at him with an odd expression. It wasn't the usual expression of lazy content, drunk off of too much tea and music. It was a strange mixture of knowingness and curiosity, and perhaps even a little amusement. He ignored this as he announced that they would be leaving, and that they would leave it up to the crew to decide what goods to bring back to the ship.

But this look continued through the walk back to the ship, and his meditation hour, and his training, and all through dinner. He fingered his noodles with his chopsticks for a while, before slamming them down and standing up.

"_What?_" He demanded. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

His uncle raised an eyebrow. "Now Zuko, I should be asking that of you."

Zuko suddenly felt his face heat up, and he turned away from his uncle, hoping that he had not seen the sudden redness.

"What did you do with the Avatar?" He heard his uncle say.

"Th-that's none of your business!" He sputtered.

"Zuko, nephew, I know more than you think I know," His uncle said wisely. Zuko actually laughed. It was a cruel laugh, short and filled with bitter amusement. "I am telling the truth, and I have known ever since I discovered that you and Azula both had amber eyes."

Zuko reeled around. "What does amber eyes have to do with anything?" He asked, out of curiosity.

"First tell me what you did with the Avatar," His uncle demanded calmly.

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "No," He said stubbornly, and wheeled back around. "And besides, you already know."

"So, you do have brains."

"What!" Zuko shouted, and fire burst unconsciously out of his hands. "Uncle, do you mean to say—"

"I mean to say that you are fueled by your short temper in most of your conscious times," He said. "Sit down, Zuko, I am sure you have some questions. You do not have to ask them, I will just answer them."

Without a word, Zuko sat down, extremely annoyed that his uncle had to have so much knowledge. _Too_ much knowledge.

"Zuko, it is common knowledge that the Avatar has the power to command all the four elements. Less people know about the Chang Ai, however, but the people who do have knowledge of such usually come from wealthy, well-educated, or influenced families. And you, Zuko, who come from all three, have little understanding of the Avatar's Chang Ai."

Zuko rolled his eyes, but he knew that his uncle did not mean this as a personal assault. He was stating this as a fact, a true fact, because he had indeed been assigned to study the Avatar when he was about eight and was extremely uninterested in the subject.

"Now, Zuko, when you were born, your father was very excited. He boasted, in his own, refined way, that you would be his heir, and that you would be the powerful prince that would live up to his name and rule over the world once his job was done and once his life was over. But when your mother presented you to him, he saw that you had glowing amber eyes.

"It changed his perspective of things, of course. He then regarded you as a threat. He regarded you as someone who would band with the Avatar and overthrow him. He regarded you as, not one who had the power to rule with an iron fist, but one with too soft of a heart and many weaknesses. And he gave up hope on you and after weeks of your mother's recovery of giving birth he bedded her again and produced your little sister, Azula.

She had amber eyes as well, but when she opened her eyes they were not nearly as powerful, not nearly as bright as yours. So he began training her, he influenced her and created her into the Azula we know now."

"Uncle, this all doesn't make sense," Zuko interrupted. This was very irritating, because nothing his uncle had said made sense. His father would never, _never_ give up hope on him just because he had amber eyes. The thought was ridiculous, and uninviting to his mind and sanity.

"Zuko, the Avatar is not the only one who is reincarnated over time. With each Avatar, there is another spirit by the name of Chang Ai, which—"

"Chang Ai," Zuko repeated softly, and his eyes widened in recognition.

"Chang Ai," His uncle repeated. "_Long love. Forever love._ The spirit is known for its amber eyes, and is reincarnated along with the Avatar as his or her chosen soul mate, and once they recognize each other and unite, then they reach their full supremacy and power and the Avatar is then able to restore peace."

"But—"

"Zuko, the young Avatar, Aang, has recognized you as his Chang Ai already. I believe that he has had dreams, and consulted in the fortune-teller that resides in this village."

Zuko gulped, and stared at the floor, shaken. He had never been this surprised, this nervous, this anxious since…he touched his scar. But there was a difference. When he faced his father for the duel, he had been terrified, not only by the fact that he would have to duel with his own father, but the fact that he would not win, even if he gave his best. This time, there was a shaken excitement and a strange churning inside his stomach, as well as a (Zuko turned red once again) throbbing in his groin.

"Zuko?" His uncle said softly. Zuko stared at his uncle in appreciation. His mother would have never told him this, even if she was still with him today. She would most likely think that this would harm him, or that it would do no good for him and their nation, and would not tell him in order to protect him. His father would never even _consider_ confiding this to him, for reasons that were very obvious now. And Azula…forget her.

"I need another walk," He said in a hoarse tone. It was much weaker, and too much of a whisper, then he had expected.

His uncle nodded. "You go walk."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

AN – I wrote this, fueled by my anger towards my parents. Don't ask why.

This is the first time, EVER, that I have written anything that has boy-on-boy action. I hope I did a good job. Please R/R, and give your honest opinion. n-n


	5. Chapter 5

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 5:.

_The door to the room slammed open, and out came a black, hooded figure. His cloak covered his face, his hair, his chest and arms and legs, and the only sign of his citizenship to the fire nation was a little bejeweled superhumeral of the fire nation insignia which clasped his cloak closed.._

"_Your Highness," He rasped out, hiding his voice from the onlookers of the room. The Fire Lord nodded and dismissed the others in the room, sending guards at the entrance. As everyone glanced curiously at the strange man they filed out of the room, too frightened of their lord to argue against him. Once the last person was out the door, the Fire Lord ordered them shut and nodded towards the hooded figure._

"_Your Highness," The man repeated again, and bowed. "I fear that your previous anxieties will—"_

"_A Fire Lord," Lord Ozai cut in smoothly, "Does not feel anxious for anything, anyone, anywhere."_

_Anyone else would have been terrified out of their skins, standing before one of the most powerful benders on Earth, but the hooded figure did not seem to show any signs of being frightened. "Begging your pardon, your Highness," He said, bowing again. "What I had meant to say that your…hypothesis that you had made in the past might be expected to be fulfilled shortly in the future."_

_There was a heavy silence in the room, and neither attempted to break it for a while. Finally, Lord Ozai spoke. "Strange, for a while I had expected Azula to be the one."_

"_Yes, your Highness, but I remind you that her eyes did not glow so bright."_

_The Fire Lord made a noise that sounded partially like a small chuckle. "Hn, but his eyes have lost their brightness now."_

"_All true, all true, your Highness. But the news that I came here to bring, under great risks and dangers, is that the Avatar has already recognized him."_

_There was an even heavier silence, and Lord Ozai seemed to have stopped breathing. Suddenly, the whole room erupted with a burst of flames, changing from oranges and yellows to the even hotter colors of white and blue from the Lord's fury._

"_What!" He hissed. "And my son—that boy—allowed such a thing?"_

_The hooded figure stood stock-still as he spoke. "I believe you misunderstand me, your Highness. The complete process was not performed, but the Avatar has already informed him that…such a thing must be done."_

_These words did little more than nothing to cease the Fire Lord's rage._

"_He is not my son, no one with such a soft, weak heart could be my son. NO ONE who could even consider the downfall of the fire nation, when our almighty element has already risen so far above, could be my son," The Fire Lord said furiously. His fists clenched, and another burst of flames filled the room._

"_Something will have to be done."_

oOo

_(Zuko's POV)_

Zuko walked numbly through the trees, not knowing or caring where he was going. He felt oddly emotionless, he did not feel horrified, giddy, happy, sad, angry, or any other feeling. All he felt was a ghost pressure on his lips as he weaved through the various trees and bushes.

It was odd, he had come out here to do some serious, deep-thinking, yet he was doing the opposite of that. He would walk around and see some useless little nature detail, such as a spider web or bird's nest, and think vaguely how nice it was. He had not stopped to appreciate these small things in years. At one time, Zuko caught himself thinking if Aang could really be as flexible as he looked, and did not feel a trace of embarrassment.

A noise brought Zuko out of this trance, and his eyes snapped into full alert. There were faint female voices not too far from where he stood. His eyes narrowed when he recognized one, that annoying water tribe girl. Little miss I'm-so-weak-but-I-think-I'm-perfect-anyway-and-I-have-an-even-more-annoying-brother.

He rolled his eyes and sat behind a large tree trunk, hidden from their eyes but not so far away so he could not hear their conversation—_not that he cared!_—but…just in case they carried any information on Aang...

"Are you sure these woods are safe?" The water peasant said.

"Oh yeah, Aunt Wu sends me out here all the time to get the special herbs she needs," The other girl said, boasting with pride. Zuko raised his eyebrow. He didn't really see anything special about getting some plants. Girls really were strange.

"Well I've traveled through some forests myself, but...I just don't like being in the woods at night," The water peasant admitted. Zuko snorted. Weren't water-benders supposed to like the night?

It was stupid of him, listening in on a worthless conversation between even more worthless little girls. He was just about to make his way back to his ship when the girl spoke.

"Don't worry," The other girl said. "So…how long are you guys staying?"

Zuko stopped midway through getting up. Perhaps it wasn't _too_ much of a worthless conversation. That, however, did not make the girls any less worthless.

"Aang wants to stay for a couple of more days," The water peasant said. The voices were becoming louder and louder, and he could sense that they were getting closer to him. He stiffened. "But I really don't know why."

Zuko could practically see the other girl's eyes light up. "YES!—I mean, ahem, that's wonderful, I really hope you enjoy your stay here." Zuko's lips twisted into a frown. And he certainly did _not_ feel jealous.

"Thank you. He probably just wants to make some new friends or something," The water peasant said. Her voice sounded dangerously close to the sheltering tree that had been hiding him. Zuko skillfully crept away and silently climbed the branches of a nearby tree and hid in its branches. With a smirk, he watched the water peasant look around the area he had been hiding with a confused expression before walking away with the other girl.

Friends indeed…

_(Iroh's POV)_

The door slammed open, and Iroh looked up from his scroll. Zuko had entered his "tea-experiment room" with an odd determined expression.

"I have more questions for you, uncle," He said in a solid voice. Iroh raised an eyebrow. Truthfully, he had not expected his nephew to come back so soon, with such confidence, but he supposed it was for the best.

"You," Iroh said, gesturing towards a servant boy who had just entered with a tray with more teacups and boiling water. "Please take these scrolls away and set the tray on the table." The servant boy did so quietly, and exited the room.

Iroh silently poured the hot water into two cups, waiting for his nephew to burst out in impatience and demand his answers. But Zuko had sat down across from him, waiting for Iroh.

"So," Iroh said, finishing with the tea and sliding a cup across the table to Zuko. "What do you want to know?"

"My father," Zuko muttered. "If he was so scared that I was the Chang Ai, why am I searching for the Avatar right now?"

"Well, it's a complicated matter," He said. "I do not know the whole story, but I know my brother well enough. I think that, when he first ban—sent you on your mission, he expected it to be a fruitless search. The Avatar had disappeared for a hundred years, you see, and nobody expected him to be back any time soon. And while you were gone, I believe he managed to convince himself that, in your absence, perhaps Azula was the Chang Ai. What she is today is what he made her, influenced by fire nation brutality and far too ambitious to see herself sitting on the throne to even consider having the Avatar as a mate."

There was a sort of calculating scowl on Zuko's face. He pushed the teacup back and forth between his hands, making a rhythm as it slid on the surface of the table. Iroh began humming with the newfound beat.

"You could really do some good on Music Night, you know," He said with a smile. Zuko cast him an annoyed look.

"So, is there any sort of time limit for...I mean, deadline, or…" He trailed away in his words and looked back at his dancing teacup.

"Deadline? For what?" Iroh said teasingly.

"You know exactly what I mean, uncle, answer my question," Zuko snapped. Iroh smiled and took a long sip of tea. When he spoke, however, it was in a serious tone of voice.

"Yes, Zuko there is," Iroh said. "When one element becomes so utterly powerful, rising far above from the other elements, then it is time when the Avatar and his Chang Ai must work together to restore peace." He looked sympathetically at his nephew. This boy had so many hardships to face as a boy, and now, as a man, he had more hardships that were thrown at his face.

"I believe in you Zuko," He said reassuringly. Zuko looked up.

"Thanks," He muttered. Iroh nodded.

"And you know," He said conversationally, "They say that the Avatar is able of many amazing and unbelievable things. I wonder if I will be getting any grand nephews and nieces from you any time soon…"

"UNCLE!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Corny ending I know, forgive me. I've tried my best to make this chapter longer, but I guess I'm just not the type to make lengthy chapters. Next chapter, Aang has an embarrassing meeting with Zuko once again. And if you guys have any opinions or ideas that should go into this story, just let me know. n-n


	6. Chapter 6

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 6:.

_(Aang's POV)_

Aang settled down on the tree with a small sigh. He was back on the cliff, his eyes were back on the view of the ocean, of the open sky and his nose was back to breathing the fresh sea air.

He continued to tell himself that the only reason he had come back was to appreciate the beautiful sight, to have a quiet moment of piece. To go away from the constant arguments of Sokka and Katara and the little flirtations coming from Meng, and out here in the open air. But a small, small annoying little voice in the back of his head cried out, _Tchea right!_

The young Avatar bit down on his bottom lip. Okay, so, he had expected Zuko to be here, maybe actually _waiting_ for him, _wanting_ him. But he knew that this was utterly ridiculous. Even if, by some crazy chance, the prince came to the cliff, what was to expect? A pleasant greeting? The closest thing to pleasant in the past was a slightly more delayed attack. Kind, honeyed words? That would be a disturbing sight. An…acceptance?

It was these things that made Aang wonder exactly _Zuko_ was his intended. The one who was constantly trying to capture him and take him back to the fire nation. The son of the man who was currently leading the fire nation side of the war. Zuko was Lord Ozai's _firstborn_, he was the heir to the throne, for goodness sake!

Aang moaned. Why, why, why did everything have to happen to him, the little guy? He stared up at the soft white clouds, looking thin and fragile compared to the strong bright blue of the sky. He tilted his head as they feebly attempted to block the sunlight.

"Why?" He asked them. When they did not answer, Aang sighed. He wondered if everybody spoke to objects in nature like this, or if he was just crazy.

"Why what?" A soft voice from the forest drifted towards Aang's ears. His eyes widened when he recognized that voice and leaped out of the tree to face the voice's owner.

"Zuko," He breathed out.

Zuko, indeed, was standing their amongst the greenery, his fire nation armor standing out drastically with the dark browns and greens. His amber eyes, one halfway shut from the scar, stared straight back to Aang's large, grey ones.

There was silence for a while, awkward silence to Aang, and he couldn't help from squirming. He despised silence in these situations. "I…_ahem_, you, have you…?"

But Zuko shook his head and began to make his way to Aang. "Don't talk right now," He said.

"But—" Aang spoke out in protest. They had important matters to discuss! Like restoring peace to the world and…other stuff!

"Later," Zuko said quietly, "But not right now."

He was holding Aang's chin now, with his other arm around the younger boy's slim waist. Aang stood there, expecting Zuko to kiss him, when he realized that this was not a command, it was a request.

"Alright, later."

_(Meng's POV)_

Meng let out a little _eek!_ as she tripped over some more roots. She frowned. Her herb gatherings in the forest should've adapted her to those troublesome roots, but she supposed that since she never had to climb to a higher elevation, she was unused to the terrain here.

She pushed a stray, brown strand out of her eyes, silently begging it not to poof out from the humidity. Even though she was tripping over roots, rocks, plants, or whatever other horrors the forest could hold, she truly liked hiking. _Well_, she thought as she tripped over a devious little rock trap, _maybe not _that_ much_. But in general, she enjoyed the outdoors. It had a much better and fresher scent that Aunt Wu's perfume. Meng stood up straighter. When she would be running her own fortune telling business, the first thing she would do is banish the use of perfume. And perhaps make a nice little bar, so she'd get a chance to drink sake.

Suddenly, Meng heard faint voices from the top of the cliff, migrating down with the wind. At that moment, she remembered why she had decided to walk to the bothersome cliff in the first place. She had been following Aang out of the village, and eventually it had led to the forest, and now to a cliff.

Curiously, she hiked up her skirts and climbed the rest of the way up, paying little attention to all those evil spirits that called themselves plants. The voices had faded, but she doubted that the people had left. She would've seen them if they did.

Meng could hear ocean waves now, and she sped up. Somehow, she knew that something big was coming, and the anticipation grew inside of her. The earth beneath her was leveling out more, and it was easier to climb on. She found herself walking faster and faster, practically bursting with curiosity at the thought of what could possibly happen.

When she finally reached the clearing on top of the cliff, everything in Meng froze.

There _was_ Aang. And he was with someone else! There was a taller figure, another boy, by the looks of it, who's small cluster of long hair on the top of his head was pulled back in a ponytail. He wore dark red armor, and it took Meng a few moments to realize that it was _fire nation_ armor. Her eyes widened. A part of her wanted to call out to Aang, telling him of this danger, but to her it seemed as thought the two were in an odd sort of hug, and they weren't likely to break apart any time soon.

Suddenly, fire nation boy pushed Aang slightly to the side, to the tree next to them. Aang stumbled, but the boy held him tight with his hands and arms, so that Aang now leaned against the tree. Meng's eyes widened even more when she realized what they were doing.

The boy was _kissing_ Aang.

She had heard of this, and how wrong it was, but she could not bring herself to look away. She just watched with pure fascination as the other boy slid his tongue along Aang's bottom lip, as the other boy ate at Aang's mouth and stole his breath, as those hands began wandering more and more…

There was only one thought that existed in Meng's mind now.

This was _hot!_

She let out a breathy sigh and changed her position so she was now comfortably sitting on the ground and prompted her chin on her fist. They were beginning to make noises now, soft pants and gasps of air, little growls coming from the throat, and when the other boy kissed his way down to Aang's neck and sunk his teeth into the flesh Aang let out a loud moan.

Meng had _never_ seen two boys kissing before. She had thought about it once, but after establishing the fact that it was most likely going to be gross, she dismissed it and never thought about it again. But _now_…now the boy was rubbing against the side of Aang's legs. She could see his face now, and really, it wasn't that bad. He had a straight nose and a strong jaw, and though there was a bad scar on his left eye he was relatively handsome. Especially with his lips curled up in a sort of I'm-doing-something-I'm-not-supposed-to-be-doing-and-I'm-getting-away-with-it smirk.

"How the hell do you get these things off?" The boy demanded. His voice was raspy and deep, and it was clear that he had already matured years ago. Meng craned her neck slightly and saw that the boy was pulling at Aang's top clothing in a frustrated manner. She heard Aang laugh.

"Here," He said in a kind voice, as if he was helping him with an everyday activity. With apparent ease, Aang untied a couple of knots with a flick of his fingers and slipped his shirt off. The boy's tongue immediately latched on to Aang's still developing chest, stopping to take a little nip at his collarbone. Aang gasped and Meng drooled. Just as the boy began descending lower with his tongue, Aang interrupted him.

"W-wait," He said hoarsly. The boy cast him an annoyed look.

"I thought I told you, we can talk later," He said. Meng heard a little giggle escape from Aang's mouth.

"It's not fair, you have to take off your shirt to," Aang said. Meng's eyes open wide. She liked Aang, of course, ever since she had first laid eyes on him, but the other boy was older and more muscular and—

_Sexy. _The other boy smirked once again and began removing his chest armor, shoulder blades, and then the cloth shirt inside. Meng felt something odd between her legs. _Sexy_ was a wonderful adjective and perfectly appropriate for this situation. The boy's shoulders were wide and came down to a narrow waist, with a well-defined, powerfully built six-pack.

(A/N – I know all you girls out there loved that. I know I did XD)

Though Meng couldn't see his face, she had not a shadow of doubt that Aang was either blushing, grinning, or both. "Zuko…" Aang began saying, but Meng hung on to the first word.

Zuko, where had she heard that name before? It definitely made a little spark go in Meng's mind. Her eyebrows knitted together in thoughtfulness. Zuko…fire nation…Zuko…fire nation…

Meng's mouth let out a shrill sound. _Prince_ Zuko! _Prince_ Zuko of the _fire nation_!

Unfortunately, this shrill sound was heard from _Prince_ Zuko of the _fire nation_, who stopped what he was doing and came to full alert. His eyes, which was now glowing an unnatural bright amber, spotted Meng out immediately and marched over.

"Who the hell are you?" He snapped, grabbing Meng's arm before she could go any place. Aang, alarmed that Zuko had moved to quickly, turned around to see her bright red and squirming.

"Meng!" He shouted, and rushed over. Zuko raised an amused eyebrow.

"_Meng?_" He said, and stifled a small laugh. Meng, suddenly forgetting that she was being held by a dangerous, powerful, _shirtless_ fire-bending prince, glared at Zuko.

"Do you have a problem with that?" She demanded. The prince merely stared at her with a bored expression.

"Meng, what are you doing here?" Aang asked. Meng blinked.

"Uh…" She said. She had never been good with coming up with excuses, especially in times like these. The two boys, however, took her red, tomato face and bubbling words for the worst.

"Do you usually spy on people's private business?" Zuko said.

"Oh, that's right, you two wanted to be alone," Meng said rather absent-mindedly, still in the middle of processing a story. Zuko's cheeks flushed slightly and he tightened his grip on her arm. Meng winced.

"Zuko, let go," Aang said in a kind voice.

"I really don't like this bitch," Zuko said, but let go. Meng massaged the place the area Zuko had practically deformed, and the two scowled at each other.

Aang, on the other hand, was suddenly realizing an important point. "Meng, you _were_ here for a long time, weren't you?"

"Yep."

"So," Aang said uncomfortably, "Um…you saw?"

"Wha—Oh, yeah!" Meng said. She had apparently forgotten how embarrassing this situation should be. "You guys are hot."

"Thank you," Aang said weakly.

"You're a weird one," Zuko said shrewdly. Meng opened her mouth to protest, but Zuko shot her down. "And you better not tell a single soul, or I'll hunt you down." Meng heard Aang murmur something under his breath, something that sounded like, "He's not very good at capturing people."

"Well," Meng said slowly. Anger rose in Zuko's eyes, while fear showed in Aang's eyes. "I might—"

"You _might_ do nothing," Zuko said. Meng put her finger to her chin in her mock expression of thoughtfulness.

"Hmm, I _might_ tell Katara—"

"NO!" Aang cried out. "Whatever you do, do _not_ tell Katara, anybody but Katara."

"Unless," Meng continued speaking, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Next time you guys go, I get to see, and you give me a drink, charges on you."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_The Fire Lord listened coolly as his spy gave his latest report. He had thought that his brother would be clever enough to spot out one of his spies sooner, but apparently the man was getting old with age. A servant boy was one of the most obvious disguises, and yet the young man before him was not found out yet, nor dead. Very impressive._

"_Iroh has 'faith' in your son," The hooded figure said._

"_Do not call him my son," Lord Ozai said. "He is no son of mine."_

_The figure nodded. "Your Highness, you must act quickly, he and the Avatar have met again. If they continue like this, the fire nation will meet its downfall in almost no time at all."_

"_Hn," Lord Ozai considered. "But what to do? I cannot kill them, they will be reincarnated again if I do. Yet I cannot keep them alive forever._

"_And what of Iroh?" He continued. "He has betrayed our nation as well."_

"_Do what you see fit, your Highness," The figure said. But whatever it may be, do it quickly."_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Longest chapter, and quickest update! Double-score! So, I'd love to hear your comments. n-n


	7. Chapter 7

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 7:.

_There was a light knock on the door of Azula's chambers. The fire nation princess was in the middle of her meditation and did not move from her position, she merely said in an annoyed tone, "You may enter."_

_One of Azula's private guards entered and bowed. "Princess, I have a letter for you from his Highness."_

_Neither of them moved. Azula continued her closed-eyed, quiet meditation for a while before one amber eye latched open. "Well? Bring it over here."_

_The guard cleared his throat awkwardly and attempted to walk in dignity towards the princess. Azula snatched it from his hand, threw it at her feet, and continued to breathe. In. Out. In. Out._

_In._

_Out._

"_Why are you still here?" Azula said. Her voice cut through the air like a knife. The guard blinked. He had not realized that he had practically frozen, staring at the princess's sheer white garments, embroidered in dark red. It was the end of the day, with the fiery sun cascading beautiful rays of rustic light into her room and making her skin glow a pale gold. Azula did not wear armor at this time of day, when it was not needed, and often changed into shorter, lighter apparel that was easier to breathe in._

_The guard chose boldly to say, "Princess, does your father know of your appearance?"_

"_My father does not know of many things about me," Azula says, raising her eyebrows. The guard began to press his luck._

"_Will your father know of any…'training' sessions between his daughter and her guards?"_

_Azula hid her dark scowl. She knew exactly where this perverted man was going._

"_Well," She drawled out slowly in mock thoughtfulness, "Perhaps—" And with one swift movement Azula leaped out of her sitting position and kicked him right between his legs. The guard stumbled back and howled in pain. "Perhaps if his daughter showed any interest in doing so the Fire Lord will never find out of such 'training' sessions." Azula summoned lightning at the tip of her fingers, the blue substance crackling mockingly at the guard. "You have achieved your task by giving me the letter from my father. I want you out. Now."_

_The guard glared darkly at Azula but bowed hastily and backed away, closing the elaborate double doors with much more force needed._

_Azula laughed aloud. She did not need to be bothered with the petty needs of those good-for-nothing guards. Where would all that training, the hard work to build up her physical and mental stability, go to if she were to become the outrageous girl the guards wished her to be? It would all go to waste, that was where, and soon the fire nation would have no heir to the throne._

_Feeling much more amused and alive, Azula hummed to herself as she opened the scroll and studied the black brushstrokes, small and precise. It was a handwriting unknown to her, so it must be from the Fire Lord Ozai himself. Usually he had someone else write to her, request things and command actions. Nothing had been important enough for her father to actually pick up the brush himself and begin such an unworthy task._

"_Well," The princess drawled out. Her own amber-yellow eyes glittered. "Zu Zu, Zu Zu, Zu Zu, what _have_ you done now? Has father—" But then, for the first time, Azula seemed speechless and cut short of breath. She seemed caught in so many emotions it was impossible to determine what exactly she was feeling. Her chiseled cheeks had become rosy, from anger, lust, embarrassment, or perhaps the latter. The corner of Azula's lips twitched upwards as if to smirk, but a second later they puckered up thoughtfully. She put a hand to her heart, and then began to fan herself._

"_Zu Zu, Zu Zu, Zu Zu," She said again, her words and the hand fanning herself falling together in rhythm. Azula shook her head and stifled a laugh into a hand. She reread the letter a few more times._

"_Those two will not know _what_ hit them," Azula cooed._

_(Zuko's POV)_

Zuko stood out to the sea and took a deep whiff of the breezy, ocean air that had become rather familiar to him over these past days. It seemed that his life would be full of unexpected surprises that jumped out at him, one after the other. It prevented him to be the thing that he had always wanted to be, had always looked up to. It prevented him to be Fire Lord, to be loved and respected by his true people.

Logic told him that this would be no good. His father would never die before Zuko took the throne, so his father would never allow him to bring peace. Ozai would never allow Zuko to take Aang as…anything. As a prisoner, as a slave, perhaps, but anything besides the latter could never happen. Would never be allowed to happen.

He did not want to believe that. Zuko wanted to believe that peace was possible, and that his throne was possible…at the same time. But then again, the whole first year he had been…away, he didn't want to believe he had ever left home. But the years moved and now…

Now he was here. Now he was—

"Look out!" Aang shouted. Zuko's head snapped up just in time to see Aang collide into him with a half-joking, half-'aaaah!' look on his face. They landed on the ground with an 'oomph'. Zuko glared at the guilty one.

"The hell was that?" Zuko said, outraged. The boy now sitting on top of his armored abdomen smiled bashfully.

"My glider…spun outta control?"

"You're supposed to be the _Avatar_, you don't lose control," Zuko grumbled. It was true. He had studied the Avatar spirit long, long hours when he first…left. They were supposed to be the most powerful creatures on earth, with abilities nobody had ever seen or heard of. Zuko crossed his arms while still lying on the ground. Was a horribly persuasive smile and body included in the Avatar's list of abilities?

"Hello!" A female voice cried. Zuko twisted his neck towards the voice in question. Who the hell was—oh no. Not her. Anybody but her.

Upwards from him Zuko heard Aang cough awkwardly and shuffle of him. Zuko stayed on the ground crossed-legged while Aang stood to his full height.

"Hi Meng."

"Mango," Zuko muttered under his breath. The very lady in question was strolling towards them with a grin and a small bundle in her hands.

"What's that?" The two boys both said. Aang was curious, Zuko was suspicious.

"Meat buns! I hope you'll like them," Meng said cheerfully. "Did I interrupt something?" She added rather hopefully.

"No," Zuko said firmly. The bundle fell onto the ground and broke open, revealing the steaming white meat buns and a couple pairs of chopsticks. He was not going to touch those things. Who knew what she put in them?

Aang walked over appreciatively, however, and picked up a pair of chopsticks and stuck them into bun. "Thanks, I always eat after training."

"Aang, how do you know she hasn't drugged those?"

"Because I wouldn't do such a thing," Meng sniffed before Aang could speak.

"You perverted Mango, of course you would," Zuko said. If he had his choice, if this stupid girl wasn't Aang's friend, he would fry her. No, he would blast fire into the forest and open roast her over it.

"How dare you say that? …flame boy!" Meng cried.

"What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Hotdog!"

"The hell is that?" Zuko cried out. "What is your _life_ made of?"

"I'm going to have a fortune-telling business," Meng said. Zuko rolled his eyes and then, forgetting that he had refused to touch the meat buns earlier, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and took an enormous bite. He even swallowed before he could remember. And when he finally did remember, after eating four of the buns, he scowled.

He had never liked conversations, it was stupid. To talk to people…about what? Just about things that don't matter, that's what! He didn't like people in his business, and he didn't care about others. Other people didn't understand him, and it annoyed him when they tried. So Zuko would never find himself in a conversation, before he met Meng.

That idiot girl. Aang did not force him into talking, which was the way he liked it. Mango, however, would coax him into the hated word-exchange without him even knowing so. That was why he really, _really_ hated her.

"Really, really, really," Zuko muttered under his breath.

"Zuko?" Aang said. Zuko blinked. The Avatar's face was very close to his own, waving his hand before Zuko's eyes. Zuko immediately looked down to those small, pursed lips, and without thinking, he leaned forward.

Aang let out a little _eep!_ but Zuko paid this no regard. He finished the long kiss with a hint of his tongue sliding on Aang's bottom lip and pulled away, daring Meng to do anything when he knew she would do everything. "What?" He said.

"We _were_ talking about seeing Aunt Wu," Meng said. "But—"

"And we'll keep talking about that!" Aang interrupted, flushing pink. "We thought it would be a good idea if we saw her," He mumbled to Zuko.

Zuko cocked an eyebrow. "And she would be…?"

"She's the fortune-teller of the village, I'm her apprentice," Meng piped up. "Seriously guys, I say we switch the subject to—"

"Let's go," Zuko said quickly and grabbed Aang's hand to drag him along. Anything to stop that girl from finishing her sentence. Hell, anything to stop that girl from existing!

He hated her. So, so, so very much.

_(Meng's POV)_

"I've been living in this village my entire life," She assured the boys behind her. "I know all the secrets and shortcuts and yada, yada, yada."

Neither of them answered. This left Meng to thought. She did not need any concentration, she knew every nook in the village, she could get them in without a single soul catching them. So Meng began thinking…

"Remember, if you have any children, I'll be assigned as godmother," She told them.

"Meng," Aang said whined, looking sideways with his face already heating up again dramatically. "Just….shut up…"

"Or you're dead," Zuko said with a nod.

They walked in silence once again. Meng thought. Was it wrong to have those thoughts? No, things that _felt_ right could certainly _not_ be wrong, right? Of course. So she was sure that they would have children sometime. She squinted. Perhaps…_(oh come on girl, you have to put your fortune-telling skills to the test!)_…perhaps…well she was envisioning four. It sounded like just a tad bit too much but perhaps…yes, four sounded like a good number to her.

"Meng, where are we?" Aang asked quietly, observing the area with squinting eyes.

"Aunt Wu's place is built against the surrounding wall for a reason," Meng said. "Stop one sec, please." She heard Zuko deliberately defy her by taking a couple more steps forward and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Leaning on her tip-toes and craning her head up Meng could barely see over the surrounding wall of her village, but the area around them was vacant. Good.

"Alright, it took us such a long time, but it was finally done, so lookie here!" She cried. A sliding door cleverly disguised with the continuous and unsuspicious cracks of the surrounding wall opened and revealed the familiar interior of Aunt Wu. "Ta da!"

Zuko strode ahead of her, clearly uninterested by this (or perhaps very interested and afraid to show it) while Aang lolled behind her poking the sliding door in a fascinated way. "Wow," She heard him breathe out.

"Zuko, who knows who's in here?" Meng whisper-shouted to him.

"So?"

"Well, Sokka might be out there, or Katara, or other people of this village who really hate the fire nation," Meng said. She could practically feel the annoyed vibes he was letting off as he came to an immediate stop in his tracks and waited there stoically with his back turned towards them.

Smiling, she lolled behind with Aang just to annoy the hell out of Prince Zuko. "We knocked down the original wall and made this one separately," She explained to him sweetly. "It took a long, long time, but it's worth it."

"I want it."

"I'm sure you do," Zuko said grouchily, finally giving up his stubborn act to join them. "But if you haven't noticed, we're wasting time. You said something about this Aunt…who, tsu?"

"Wu, her name is Aunt Wu," Meng snapped, crossing her arms. Why was everyone getting her name wrong? All the newcomers in the village would call her Aunt Who, it was ridiculous! "And…you're going to get hit on the head with a big rock soon!"

"Yeah, only because you're going to be the one who'll hit me," Zuko said. "But let me warn you, try to harm me and I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Zuko!"

"Of course you wouldn't," Meng said sarcastically. She inwardly smiled. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, he acted tough and moody but she could sense he had a softer heart. Perhaps, if he didn't grow up in the nation that started the war…perhaps if he didn't grow up around the element that destroyed everything in its path…

"Wait!" Meng cried. She sensed something! "Aunt Wu, is that you?"

"Those are her footsteps," Aang said, blinking. "And that's her perfume."

"My point exactly, this girl is a poser," Zuko said.

"The Chang Ai?" The familiar, throaty voice said, and Meng's beloved Aunt Wu came into view. Her heavily covered eyes, wise and thoughtful, rested on Zuko's glowing amber eyes and observed them with great intensity. "My, my, my, I've wanted to meet you all my life."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Thank you all for reading once again. There are some questions that I'd really like you guys to answer.

Should Meng have any romance?

Should it be yuri or het? (I don't mind, I'm capable of writing both)

Does anyone have any specific pairing that involves her? (don't ask me why I'm obsessed with this girl, I don't even know why)

Should Toph come in, somehow, as to make it more of an AU?

Are there any characters that I should include, or any characters that should be paired up?


	8. Chapter 8

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 8:.

"You're Aunt Wu?" Zuko inquired bluntly, not bothering to hide the rude laughter in his voice. "How can you possibly—?"

"Not at this very moment can you speak, Chang Ai," Aunt Wu said slightly rushed, bowing slightly. What a typical Chang Ai, she thought, with such a crude shield, but still with experience and a hidden loving nature beneath the rough surface. The two would be perfect, a wonderful balance of the Yin and Yang. She smiled slightly. "Others from this village will arrive shortly, we will not have time to sit."

"She really _can_ tell the future," Aang whisper-shouted to Zuko insistently.

"Where's the proof in that?" Zuko whisper-shouted back.

"They're such a cute couple, aren't they?" Meng suddenly piped up.

"Meng, can you please be quiet for a bit?" Aang unexpectedly snapped. Aunt Wu watched in a bored manner as Aang frowned at Meng, Meng held a hurt expression (fake hurt expression, she was quite the queen of sarcasm) on her features and Zuko sniggered. She sighed. What a predictable group of people, shouldn't she get a challenge once in a while? Didn't she deserve so?

"Aunt Wu, do you know anything you can tell us?" Aang asked. Zuko muttered something off to the side, something that sounded like "nutty grandma" or perhaps it was "better be completely truthful". Whatever it was, everyone chose to ignore this.

"I must make it quick, Avatar and Chang Ai, it is very important but you may not understand it immediately," Aunt Wu said wisely. "Once the sun has its rest for tonight and burns its energy for nearly one more day, there will be two grand things in store. They can be good, they can be bad, depending on the way your eyes behold. Be prepared to show your manly power, be prepared to tire your muscles. Outside forces of the spiritual world are coming to your aid, but outside forces of the physical world is the opposite. Tomorrow is your day, you will know when the time comes."

Silence.

Aang's large eyes were screwed up in concentration, mouthing silent words and counting on his fingers. The poor boy was trying his hardest to connect the screws in his brain and figure it all out, then gave up in trying to interpret this message and threw himself unto the floor.

Zuko had studied Aunt Wu's mouth forming the words as she told them their fortune. Though everybody else thought probably thought differently, he was a thinker when he had the time and the chance to be in the right sort of atmosphere. As a young boy he learned the ways speech could manipulate people, confuse them and muddle their brains. The only issue in this ability was that it seemed to disappear whenever his rage blew his way. So he thought he understood bits of it, and it made his pale cheeks tinge pink. Oh God.

Meng, on the other hand, understood every single world, and here is her paraphrase:

_Tomorrow will be a big day for you two hotties, there are going to be two huge things in store for you. Just in case, be ready to fight and bend your elements. The Avatar and the Chang Ai are meant to be together, but people around here will try to split you guys apart. Tomorrow, you will have hot, bangin' sex and you guys will not be the ones to come to It. It will come to you and then you'll know when the time is right, so be ready to smash._

"They've arrived at the front of my door," Aunt Wu said, her voice suddenly hushed and rushed. Her eyes darted towards the direction of her front door for a split second and then focused back on the people to whom she was speaking. "Hurry and go back out. Meng, go with them to make sure they exit finely, then go to greet the visitors.

"Be prepared, Avatar, Chang Ai," Aunt Wu said, and for the first time Aang thought he heard some fear in her voice. And it frightened him, a lot. "Prepare yourselves for what is in store for you, I wish I could be of more help to you. All knowledge you will need for the future will come to you due time, I have told you what I was meant to tell you. Now, go!" And she ushered them out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Katara hummed softly to herself, remembering the old tunes her gran-gran would sing by the fire. Even in old age her gran-gran seemed to have a songbird voice, and though her ability to reach those amazingly high pitches was faltering and there was a raspier quality to the voice, she still owned the floor whenever she sang. Katara took a deep, determined breath. "The fragrance of the pink lotus—"

"Katara, how many times do you—ouch!—how many times do I have to tell you—Momo, stop it!—how many times do you need to be told—Momo, what's the matter with you!," Sokka cried out, trying in vain to get his message out clearly but Momo, whose movement was usually playful, was leaping around in a jittery mood. The creature's dark eyes leapt around nervously, never having one true focus, and often found it necessary to cling upon the top of Sokka's head, digging his claws into the mostly bare scalp. Much to Sokka's annoyance and pain.

"Katara, you can't—aah!" Sokka squawked as Momo's tail accidentally got into his eye. He grabbed hold of Momo and threw him off his head and took a deep breath. "Katara!" He said dramatically.

"What?" Katara said.

Sokka blinked, then sighed in defeat. "Never mind…" He muttered. "Okay, we gave Appa a bath yesterday and the day before that we took him for an exercise ride. _Now_ why are we here?" He complained.

"To mix Appa's feed and make sure he's a nice, healthy bison," Katara said smiling and petting Appa's moist nose. To her surprise, Appa jerked away from the gentle touch, very much unlike his usual loving nature. "Appa?"

"Do you see how weird Appa and Momo are acting?" Sokka exclaimed. "They're all nervous and crazy, like they know something and we don't!" Sokka's eyes widened at this incredulous thought. "How can _they_ know something _I_ don't know?! Okay Momo, get back here! Spit it out, what are you hiding from me?" And with a whooping way cry Sokka began chasing Momo around.

"Sokka, you're so…ah!" Katara threw her arms up at the air in defeat, then turned her attention to Aang's sky bison. "Appa?" She said tentatively, lowering her voice. "Appa, what's bothering you?"

Appa did not make a sound. Katara frowned. "Sokka," She said slowly, though she spoke more to herself than her brother, "I heard once from gran-gran that animals, well, had some sort of sixth sense. Like they could sense something really scary or horrible, or something, that hasn't happened yet."

"I'm sensing something horrible right now, if you haven't noticed!" Sokka shouted, now trying to climb up to the roof of a building, where Momo was perched upon with Sokka's boomerang beside the little creature. "Momo, get down here! Momo!"

"Sokka, you're not listening to me!" Katara said sharply, grabbing Sokka by the ear and forcefully turning him around. "Sokka, I heard that animals could see some sort of future disaster, or whatever! What if something's about to happen?" Katara's large, brown eyes shined with fearful realization. "Oh my God, what's going to happen?" She whispered, her voice going unnaturally high. "Appa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is going to happen, Katara!" Sokka said irritably. "I don't know why you believe weird myths like those. As much as I love gran-gran, you can't believe everything she says!"

"Yes, I can!"

"No, you can't!"

"Yes, I can!"

"No you can't!"

"_Yes_, I can!"

"_No_, you--ouch! Hey! Don't water-bend my way! Ow! Ow! Katara!"

"Yes I can Sokka! Now say it!"

"No you can't! Ow! Ow!"

Unknown to the eyes and ears of these arguing siblings, Momo shot Appa a frightened look, and Appa responded with eyes shining with reassurance.

_We will be all right,_ Appa seemed to say.

_I hope so,_ Momo seemed to say.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the sun dipped low in the horizon, a stripe of hazy yellow was surrounded in the purple-red sun flames, Meng began to somber up. She always calmed down from her hyper-activeness in the evenings, it was the time of her meditation. With an uncharacteristically small, ladylike sip of her herbal tea she gazed at the fiery sunset, and called it Zuko. It was fighting the night with all it had, and even though it knew it would lose in the end it had a drive to finish what it started.

Meng turned her head and looked towards the east, the opposite side where the cool, moist night air floated. She called it Aang.

"Meng," Aunt Wu called softly from the interior. "Meng—"

"Aunt Wu, may I speak to you?" Meng said uncertainly. She put down her tea in a determined manner, she just wanted to get it over with and ask.

Aunt Wu's soft, padded footsteps came first, than she stopped in front of Meng with her changed robes and hair down. With a knowing eye she observed Meng quickly and thoroughly, skimming over her facial expression and the glint in her eyes. "I have your answers," Aunt Wu said nodding, sitting beside her.

"Tomorrow, the fire nation is going to come to our village, isn't it?" Meng said.

Aunt Wu smiled proudly at how wise her apprentice had grown. But she stopped herself quickly, she should not make Meng cocky with knowledge. Aunt Wu fixed her expression so it was unreadable. "And what makes you say that?" She questioned. If Meng could properly explain this…

"I..." Meng said, suddenly nervous. She was right, wasn't she? Why didn't Aunt Wu say yes, or no? "Um, my dreams?" She said uncertainly. "I mean," She cleared her throat, Meng did not care what other people thought but she did not want for Aunt Wu to think she was a fool, "I mean, dreams are fortune-tellers' magic, which come to those who have the natural abilities and must be interpreted with 1, the resourceful ways of—" Meng said in a rush before being cut off.

"Don't repeat your studies like a robot, Meng, just answer. Tell me why," Aunt Wu said calmly.

"Dreams that foretell the future are gifted to those few," Meng said, "In times of urgency." With a quick, inner battle of whether or not to ask the next question, Meng gave up and asked, "Who's Azula? What's her relation to Zuko?"

"Which dream did she grace her presence with?" Aunt Wu said, gently yet rather sarcastically.

"The, uh, the second one, or third one, I think," Meng said, suddenly urgent. "Aunt Wu, why aren't we preparing? My dreams tell there's a spy on Zuko's ship, spying on him and his uncle and feeding information to the Fire Lord and boy is he a scary dude and then there's a girl, Azula or whatever, and she's agreed to help to do something bad to Zuko who for some reason she calls ZuZu I have no idea why…" Meng realized she was babbling, and slowly trailed off.

She looked horrible, ashy, frightened out of her mind. The rosy color in her face from the warm temperature slowly drained. Carefully, she laid her tea down with shaking hands. "I've been thinking about it every morning I've gotten up after a dream, I think I've known the first climax for tomorrow."

Aunt Wu watched Meng's mannerisms. She watched her speak rapidly, then slowly, then change from calm to the spunky, wild mood she was usually in to the scared disposition she currently withheld. Aunt Wu smiled slightly, she was making such a good apprentice, even if puberty was half-ruining it all. "Very good, Meng."

"But Aunt Wu!" Meng said in outrage. "How could you stand by and let the fire nation come! I know their target is Zuko and Aang, but what's going to stop them from marching through this village and burning it all to the ground. Then it'll be nothing but fire houses and cooked…people!" Meng's eyes widened with shock. "Oh my God, that's gross! It's horrible!"

"Meng, you are forgetting something," Aunt Wu said. She stooped down, gracefully sliding the tip of her foot behind the other and sitting down cross-legged. Leaning forward so Meng could hear very, very clearly, she worded out what exactly Meng was forgetting. "Aang is the Avatar, the most powerful being on earth. He is the one who shall restore peace. And Prince Zuko, as rash as he is, he is the Avatar's soul-mate, he is the Chang Ai and he is the Avatar's equal. They have what it takes to achieve what is meant to be tomorrow. They will overpower the fire nation and they will succeed."

Meng blinked, and she couldn't help but smile. "They're gonna do it tomorrow, aren't they?" She shout-whispered.

"Shh! You'll ruin the surprise for everyone!" Aunt Wu shout-whispered back. They giggled, and Aunt Wu smiled. Because Meng kept her young, Meng kept her happy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_Azula."_

"_Father."_

"_Remember, tomorrow, we must not fail. We must not let the Avatar and your traitor of a brother, and my failure of a son, win. The fire nation prevails."_

"_As always, father."_

"_Are you ready?"_

"_Yes, father."_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Oh my God, you guys, I HAVE 100 REVIEWS!!!

More than that, I have 101 REVIEWS!!!

Thank you so much for reading, everyone, and reviewing and commenting on my writing and helping me get better. This update is sort of late, but I was waiting for the 100th review. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

I took everyone's thoughts about Meng and Toph in mind, and here's my final decision. Meng's story will be in a oneshot sequel, and Toph _might_ make an appearance there. Any romance involving Meng will be in that sequel. Okay, tata everybody! blows kisses n-n


	9. Chapter 9

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 9:.

"Aang! Aang you—aah!"

The young Avatar stirred slightly, then cracked an eye open wearily. He felt searing air and smoke, and distantly heard gruff voices and high-pitched screams. Aang yawned, it was too early! The sun was just rising! Okay, he needed to think. Fire… screaming people… fire… screaming people… people didn't scream unless something bad was happening, Aang remembered that. Hmm… fire… bad… screaming… people scream in wars… war… the fire nation… Aang's eyes snapped open.

The fire nation had attacked.

…Was attacking.

"Katara!" Aang called, now recognizing the voice that had woken him up. He looked around to see Katara fiercely fighting a losing battle with a couple of the guards. Half of her long braid was burned off and she was moving frantically, hitting as many of the men down as she could. Yet the more that she attacked, the more that seemed to be surrounding her…

"Get away from her!" Aang cried, and with one swift movement of his arm all of the guards surrounding her toppled over at least fifteen feet away from then. Katara ran towards Aang.

"A-Aang!" She said, gasping. Katara seemed on the verge of tears. As she came closer, Aang noticed that her eyes were indeed watery, and she had some soot on her cheeks on and the tip of her nose. "A-A-Aang…they…they…M-Momo…everyw-where-re…Sokka—Azula…Zuko—"

"Zuko!" Aang yelped, remembering, and looked around quickly. He was no longer in his sleepy haze, yet still could not do much of a better job deciphering his surroundings. The thick smoke rose from the burning buildings, into the air where it blocked his vision and his lungs. Coughing, he helped Katara over to the side, and nearly pulled her to a crouching position away from the smoke. "Katara, where's Zuko?"

Katara sniffed, her eyes teary as she shook her head. "H-he…he…" She was slowly cut off by a vaguely heard child's wail, and yet more screaming.

Aang's insides went numb, while his heartbeat thundered into his ears, becoming faster and louder by the second. After all, he could only take her stuttering for the worst. "He's—?" Aang required softly, hopelessly.

Katara shook her head again. "He's not gone," She said hoarsely. In the light of the panicky situation, she seemed to have forgotten why she should have been confused to why Aang cared so much. "But I don't know w-where he is, Aang! He didn't come to try to c-capture you and he's not fighting with t-them. I-I…I've never been so scared in my life. I feel l-like the whole fire nation is here, to destroy…e-everything…"

"Katara you're braver than this!" Aang yelled. "You're strong, you're a great fighter! Find some water and—where's Sokka? Momo? Where'd Appa go? Katara?!"

"I'll fight," Katara said tearfully, nodding her head in what seemed both like a determined and desperate way. "I thought I heard Appa roaring some time ago. Momo…_Sokka_…" Suddenly Katara seemed angry. "The fire nation took away my mother! I'm _not_ going to let them kill my entire family, I'm _not_ letting Sokka go! No!"

Aang barely heard her. There was too much noise around them, too many hooves and claws digging into the ground, too much dirt and smoke in the air, too many yells and swords clanging, too much of everything. "I have faith in you," He whispered to her, hurried. "I gotta go find Zuko." And he sprinted off, hurling away and knocking down as many fire nation men as he could possibly reach and make sense of, in this sort of atmosphere.

In the split second that Katara had to think, she almost smiled. It would have been a humorless smile, but a sort of content one, at least. She returned that faith to her friend full-heartedly.

"Hey! You—"

Quickly snapping back into reality, Katara looked around wildly for water. Water… water… she spotted a small well and not even knowing if there was water down there she summoned her strength and soon a deadly sharp current was blasted towards the owner of the voice. Zuko.

"I—you!" Katara exclaimed. Of all people…!

"_Me_, you stupid peasant!" Zuko yelled at her, furious and coughing out water. "Now listen to me, no _listen to me!_ I'm not gonna hurt you! I know how my own nation works, don't hurt the men if you can help it, they'll only send in a lot more if you do! Just get the villagers out alive first, and you might wanna tell your stupid brother that I'm on your side, too!"

Katara blinked. "Uh…" She said intelligently. This was certainly not what she had expected. Today just seemed so full of surprises.

"He's out fighting with the earth-bending thug-heads, now move will you?!" Zuko practically roared. Of all the times to be dumbfounded…wasn't this one supposed to be smart or something? It really was true, you could never depend on water-benders. His lip curled. Fuck this! He was a man of action, no way was he going to be held back such pettiness.

Zuko moved away, half sprinting half stomping. He needed to think, he truly needed to think, but he could not. He felt fury, panic, helplessness, and would very much like to hit something. He felt vulnerability, he felt hope, he felt longing; he felt a white-hot force building up in his blood and sure as hell he was going to use it.

Snapping his helmet closed, he ran blindly. He needed to find Aang, and if he was lucky enough (which he never was) he would find him before his lovely family did. Zuko stopped for a millisecond to redirect the fire that was swallowing the small wooden house into the sky, where with nothing to burn it disappeared. Noticing that the inhabits got out safely, then ran on. His uncle would've been proud, fire was a free element, redirecting it meant he could really control it.

Suddenly, a familiar voice screamed and Zuko found himself turning around. Meng, who's only gift was her talent as a Seer, was trying to make a run for it from three burly fire nation guards, but was cornered almost pathetically quickly.

"Hey!" Zuko shouted without thinking, and the guards looked around. One of them seemed to recognize him, even with his helmet on, for he charged in his direction. Zuko easily dodged his attack and sent a much more powerful blast of fire, and soon all three were knocked out.

"Zuko?" Meng asked hoarsely.

"Yeah, now go run off," Zuko said gruffly. Sometimes, he didn't know why he had such a conscious. It made him do too many good deeds.

"Aang's looking for you," Meng said. "He's—"

"Alright, alright, now GO! Get yourself to safety, stupid girl!" Zuko barked. Meng bit her lip, but nodded and ran.

She couldn't help but feel worthless once again, her looks and talents had improved but whatever she did never seemed to suit the situation. Meng sighed best she could as she panted like a dog, ready to turn a corner when she heard something land heavily on the ground. An involuntary, frightened squeak escaped her mouth, and attached herself against the wall, listening.

"Thank God you're okay, Momo…" A voice said softly, barely heard but loud enough to reach Meng's happy ears.

"Aang!" She said, rounding the corner. The Avatar looked up, surprise and relief in his large grey eyes.

"Meng! You're okay! Here, gimme your hand I'll get you out of the village," He said, quickly. "Have you seen Zuko?"

"I _just_ saw him, Aang!" Meng groaned. "You better go and find him fir—"

"No, I'll get you to safety," Aang interrupted hurriedly. His small hand expertly turned his staff into a glider in one anxious, fluid move and picked Meng up. He had half a mind of flying over the village to see if he could spot Zuko, but changed his mind. Meng needed to be taken to safety, and flying her over a battle did not seem very safe.

"Okay, now—" Aang began, thinking of some insane rescue plan when something burning hot whizzed past his left ear. He looked up in horror to see three, generously-sized hot air balloons, floating in an intimidating manner and dropping the hot coals from above. Meng shrieked in Aang's arms, and Aang was forced to make a detour from his route and make a crazy zigzag path in the air, then dropped Meng off in the dense forest. He left without a word, the battle seemed lost.

"You can do it!" He heard Meng cry out to him as he flew back to the battle scene. Aang gave a sad smile, he couldn't let people down.

"Sokka! Katara!" Aang shouted as Sokka, Katara, and other warriors of the village came into view. They were doing better, providing strong earth barriers while Katara and Sokka balanced on top of them, fighting off anyone who tried to break through.

"Hey Aang!" Sokka responded, "Zuko just passed by, he's on our side! Can you believe—" And then Sokka was forced to put his concentration into the current situation, flinging his boomerang at oncoming archers.

Aang felt like swearing, and he'd never sworn before. Why did he always have to miss Zuko by just seconds? "Here, I'll help you guys!" Aang said. The number of screams was slowly decreasing, most of the villagers had either escaped or were already dead. He sent the hot air balloons in the air off balance, _way_ off balance as they began swerving midair and landing on top of oncoming soldiers.

"It looks like they're backing off!" Katara said joyously, after some tiring fighting. She had cried enough, and had fought side by side with her brother. The sight of the backs of the Fire Nation soldiers seemed to make the sun shine on her happy face.

"We won?" Sokka yelled, also grinning. "Hey, I really think we won!"

The earth-bending men of the village whooped in unison, tired faces becoming painfully optimistic in Aang's eyes.

"Guys," He whispered. Aang pointed out to the open, where two lonely figures, painted black by the smoke still in the air, stood. "Look."

The victory cries slowly died out, as they realized something was wrong, and gazed at the black silhouettes not too far from the outskirts of their village. There was a deathly silence, no one spoke, no one was sure as to what exactly was going on.

Then, a cruel, feminine laughter filled the air. One of the figures raised its arms, then gracefully and curtly lowered them. The smoke vanished, everyone's vision became clear, and Prince Zuko and Princess Azula were illuminated by the now risen sun.

"You are all so naïve," Azula purred, smiling sweetly. "ZuZu, look at the side you've ended up with."

"How do you know I'm not still fighting the war with father?" Zuko grounded out. A transparent lie, obvious to everyone's ears.

"News travels fast," Azula said, "Perhaps what I heard was just a rumor, but…" She let the question hang, her eyes catching Aang's, and the Avatar was reminded of Zuko's eyes. Except Azula's were duller, Azula's was heartless.

"I have orders," Azula said, her eyes wandering from her brother's to Aang's. "To bring back two spirits, by the names of the Avatar and the Chang Ai. I'm sure you've heard of them."

Katara and Sokka were visibly confused, as were the rest of the remaining villagers.

"Come without a fight," Azula said coolly, "And we will spare you all."

"Like hell," Zuko said right away, his whole stance and posture ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Oh, you're all so typical," Azula said, looking at really nothing in particular, seeming to love the sound of her own voice. "Do you know, I wonder, that you're still completely surrounded. There is a perfect, unbreakable circle around this village, exactly one mile away in every direction. And we have certain individuals as our captives. Who really knew, ZuZu, that Uncle would put up such a fight?"

Something in Zuko snapped. "You bitch!" He roared, as the temperature seemed to rise. Azula blocked his attack, laughing.

"Oh, your fire almost turned blue! Are you finally catching up to me?" Azula taunted. It was hardly a game anymore, Zuko looked as if he was ready to kill, but she would continue to laugh. She would continue to look smug, would continue to beat her brother because Zuko was a master fire-bender. Azula was just ten times better.

Aang seemed to have come out of nowhere, and soon there were three skilled figures in combat, limbs flying, feet taking sure and not-so-sure steps, reddish-orange fire mingling with blue and hot air blasted out of the way with Aang's cool bursts.

Zuko dared not spare a glimpse at Aang as he attacked with all his might, despite all the meaningful grey-eyed glances sent in his direction. Love was weakness in the enemy's eye, as much as he hated to admit it. He seemed to have forgotten that Azula undoubtedly already knew of his "relationship" with the Avatar, but nevertheless he needed to stay cautious.

Just when the fight seemed to be never-ending, Aang was knocked out of the way, passing Zuko as he was falling to the side, the blue fire gradually turning reddish-orange as it ghosted over his skin. In slow motion, Zuko watched the grey eyes slowly lose their spirit, their beautiful fire, but never closing. His heart skipped a beat, his furious jaw went loose, Zuko's eyes widened in realization. Azula had burned Aang, as Lord Ozai had burned him.

He stood, frozen on the spot, as a ringing laugh echoed and Zuko heard, as sharp as ever, "Aww, ZuZu in love!" and then Azula skillfully tripped him. Zuko fell with a sudden thud, but he was already frozen, already numb, already practically unconscious, the only difference was the darkness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For the second time that day, Aang unwillingly woke to an unfamiliar surrounding. However, unlike before where everything had literally been fiery hot, his nose filled with the scent of burning and his ears nearly exploding. Here, it was chilly, dark, and there was faint smell of old blood, spilled long before he himself made his presence in this...what was it?

"We're in a cell, on Azula's ship," Zuko's voice said from above. Aang turned his head, wincing when an unexpected pain sparked in his neck.

Zuko was looking at him like he had never seen, it wasn't the angry scowl he had usually seen, back before he visited Aunt Wu. It wasn't even the lusty look, where a haze would fog and glaze over the glowing amber eyes. Zuko was looking at him with an almost loving look, or as close to loving as someone like Zuko could get, concerned and angry but the latter was not directed to him, he was sure. It didn't exactly suit the Fire Prince, so Aang couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Zuko snapped, a single eyebrow raised to symbolize his obvious confusion. That also didn't suit the Fire Prince, usually when he was confused he would furrow his brow in a greatly exaggerated manner and frown, deeply. This subdued, caring Zuko made Aang laugh harder.

"Stop laughing, stupid, or you'll—" Too late, Aang's snickers turned into painful coughs.

"What, _ahem,_ happened?" Aang asked, doing his best to clear his throat and stop laughing. When Zuko did not answer immediately, Aang continued. "How's everyone else?"

"...I don't know," Zuko admitted. "Don't you remember what happened?"

"I remember something hot," Aang said, shrugging. Zuko's expression still looked expecting. "Uh...really hot?"

"Azula did this to you," Zuko said in a frighteningly soft, shaking voice. His fingers ghosted over the wound that had formed on the side of Aang's neck. It was a sort of clumsy grace they held as they traced the outline in a soothing manner. It stung, badly, but Aang could feel himself relaxing. "I'm gonna kill that bitch."

Aang tried to find something to say, but every combination of words he tried left him. What could he say? Instead, with a curiously thoughtful expression, he began to sit up.

"What are you—!" Zuko began in outrage. He placed his hands firmly on Aang's back and tried to lay him back down, but Aang pulled him down with him, so Zuko lay on top of him, and gently kissed his lips.

The kiss itself was soft, warm, embracing, while their lips were dry and Zuko's had a small, bleeding cut to the side. Aang gently pressed his tongue against this cut, lapping up the blood and healing it with his saliva. In a blur of a moment, the kiss had melted into a deep inter-locking of tongues, as Zuko became more like the Zuko Aang knew, fiery, passionate, physically powerful, wonderful…

"Now?" Zuko murmured when they broke apart for air, lips still ghosting over Aang's, their hot breath meeting between them.

"It's the only way we can fight," Aang said. His voice had gone foreign, overlapped by one deeper, richer, so very intense. "United."

"You're too young for this," Zuko answered, his speech also sounding different. It was still definitely Zuko's voice, but it seemed to have been combined with another. The two worked together, faithfully by the Avatar's side. "I wish this didn't have to happen to you."

Aang smiled tearfully, as the salty liquid dribbled down his cheeks, traveling down his jawline and dripping from his chin. He had little to no idea why he was crying, but Zuko eased him, holding him and wiping away his tears. Suddenly, Aang was reminded of the very last scene in his dreams, the small little room, the proclamations, the kiss.

"I love you, Zuko."

Zuko froze, taken aback, and stared awkwardly into Aang's eyes. Finally, after silence stretched for nearly one whole minute he smiled grimly. "…I...love you, too…" He said, voice cracking, and the two spirits sealed it with a kiss.

The Chang Ai handled the Avatar with unnatural gentleness, trembling hands fondling his skin, down his sides, rubbing circles on his back, taking special care to avoid further touching his wound. The Avatar, however, had different ideas, eagerly pulling his Chang Ai closer to him, arching into him, a new mischievous glint in his tear-filled, sparkling eyes. He laughed when the Chang Ai scowled at him.

"You shouldn't push me," The Chang Ai said breathlessly against the unhurt side of his neck, licking and sucking down to his collarbone. The Avatar practically mewed. It was clear now, the instincts of their spirits had taken over.

The Avatar welcomed the fingers that probed into his mouth, running his tongue over them thoroughly with the knowledge that Aang should not, did not know, but this was not Aang. While this hand was occupied, the other skimmed its knuckles smoothly down the lithe chest and pulled his pants from his waist, to his knees, to his ankles, and then they were completely off.

One finger, and the Avatar gave a whine that the Chang Ai relished. He spread his legs wider, pleading.

Two fingers, and there was one split second where the Avatar tensed, but then relaxed, pushing his hips up and melting into the Chang Ai's rough kiss.

Three squirming fingers, hitting one certain spot, and the Avatar literally threw his head back and cried out, breathy gasps and hearty moans. The Chang Ai spirit growled approvingly.

Then, the fingers were eased out and something thicker, bigger than three measly fingers prodded against the Avatar's entrance. The Chang Ai stared down at the Avatar, stared at the open mouth, the flushed cheeks, the glowing white eyes overpowering the fading pupils and irises.

"J-just do it," The Avatar sighed out. Half-lidded eyes glowed hungrily with gold, pure gold. The Chang Ai held his breath in anticipation, then with one swift moment he let out his breath and thrust into his soul mate. When they made love, the young adolescent called Aang and the prince called Zuko became blurred in the darkness, and two regal spirits were reborn.

The Avatar and his Chang Ai were united, and unbeatable.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N – Oh my God, FINALLY. I finally got this chapter done! After a month of laziness, and some more time being on and off writing this, I've finally gotten committed enough to finishing up this chapter over the past couple of days and there you have it! Not a seriously explicit lemon, and I hope it will do. n-n


	10. Chapter 10

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Chapter 10:.

_The Avatar and his Chang Ai were united, and unbeatable. _

The chaos in the kitchen was seeping through the air. Everyone was running around like mad. Servant boys rushed with red faces to fill the ovens with coal, cooks were hollering with open mouths as fish were hurried to be roasted and fried, rice was being steamed and plated as rice balls, fried rice, rice soup, and mixed with sweet sauce for dessert. Spices were sprinkled over chicken and vegetables, as well as spilled over the floors and down the throats of poor unsuspecting victims. Herbs were grounded and mixed with the boiling water. Dried fruits that had been in storage were causing stress for some workers, all of whom were trying to remember where they had placed the jars.

It was what they could only suspect from such a demanding princess. After the victory, she announced a feast for the great mass of soldiers, generals, admirals, and all the rest that tagged along with her to defeat the Avatar and Chang Ai, and gave them only twenty-four hours to prepare. In a fair world, if the feast was a disaster it was the princess' fault.

They no longer lived in a fair world.

As the sun began to set, Azula's grand ship was presented with the first opportunity to eat their dinner. The ruthless princess sat at the head of the table, a coldly pleased expression eyeing the vast meal in front of her. Smoothly, she lifted a piping hot cup of tea and sighed in quiet satisfaction as she took a sip.

Sweet, sweet victory.

The other men near the head of the table were not quite so quiet when it came to winning. As usual, they would always talk loudly amongst themselves, looking sometimes to catch the eyes of servant girls and occasionally (hopefully) the princess herself.

"You sent a servant to check on our prisoners?" One of the men inquired another, and both of them sitting near the head of the table.

"He should be on his way back," The addressed man answered.

"Those idiot boys come from the belly of a farmer's whore. Does he even know which way to go?" Another man said.

"I'd hope so," He snorted.

"If he can't find his way to the room, I'd go there myself. I've been longing to give those two a beating for the trouble they've given my family," Yet another man said quite determinedly.

"I'd join you."

All of them burst into cruel and joyous laughter.

A sharp thud…and suddenly the whole table went silent.

All eyes fell on the cause of the noise: the one person sitting at the head of the table.

"_The _room?" Azula said, hushed. Her voice was a scalding brew of anger, disbelief, and accusation that mixed with the sizzling dishes on the table. Her dull eyes glared dangerously at the noblemen and warlords sitting around her. None of them knew quite what to say.

"Whatever happened," Azula continued to say threateningly, "Of the orders I gave?" Her head swiveled around to look all of them in the eye before finally shouting out the answer in frustration. "Throw the rats into _separate_ rooms!"

They gulped.

Then, they all sprang up to point fingers.

"It was Benjirou! He told me they belonged in the same cell!"

"Shut your mouth, Zheng Huan, you were the one who boasted you had the honor of doing so!"

"Da Wei! Da Wei, you were the one! You shouted careless orders to minutemen guards, I remember!"

"It was not me you babbling fool! Daiki, don't deny you stand guilty!"

Blue fire scorched the tips of their lips and burned the ends of their fingers. They all yelped and nursed their injured parts and looked pathetically at the one who sat in the head chair.

The royal chair was empty, for Azula had already made a run out of the room. The calculations going on in her head were simple: find the damned little boy and her brother, before they could find each other.

Her silent, hare footed steps were soon followed by a near stampede of her worthless crew doing their best not to mess up the chance to gain a higher title. In her opinion, the one thing they must best avoid now was their own horrible deaths. For almost the first time in her life, Azula felt dread: a thundering offbeat in her heart.

A booming, white beam of light exploded on the other side of her ship, and screams and yells ensued. It was too late to prevent their rebellion from happening now, these powerful spirits had already begun fighting. But was it too late to separate them? Was it too late to keep them from going further? Azula's jaw tightened as she thought of how she was to do this.

She had never experienced their combined power, therefore she did not know what she expected to face. The element of surprise was against her this time.

She had no organization and no planning, which had been a large portion of the reason why she won before. They, on the other hand, did not need such things.

She did not even have the essential knowledge of their location.

They definitely had the upper hand.

Quick as the wind she sped down more hallways, and two more beams of light crashed through the ship. One was the blinding white she'd seen earlier, and the other was a new one, a shining gold. If she could find the heart of all this power, she could still save the fire nation. She could still give her home the glory it deserved. She had to do it, before—

Too late…the ship began to sink.

She dodged a flying wooden beam, flew out of a hole in the ship's wall, and dived straight into the cold water. Expertly, Azula inhaled at the surface and swam underwater to find the heart she was looking for. It was a new world underwater, darker and less clear, yet she could see a new perspective of the ship.

There it was, a sphere of mist and light, and ball of power surrounding what she immediately knew to be the Avatar and Chang Ai. It was most definitely them.

Azula darted to the surface like a bullet in the water and spurted out the water in her mouth. She felt relief, even happiness—she knew where they were now, and now all she had to do was to get on…

The…

Ship…

Which was gone.

The mast was the last thing to go, and it miserably sank down in bubbles. Azula looked with disbelief, how was she to reach them now? How could she possibly destroy them now? Determinedly, she swam towards where the ship disappeared into the darkness below…only to swallow a hacking mouthful of salt water on the way.

This could not work. How was she, a fire-bending princess to stay in the water, in the cold, and away from the warm sun? The Avatar and Chang Ai could not be reached unless she found another ship, a piece of land, anything strong and stable. Anything before she began to swallow more salt water.

As she grabbed hold of a loose wooden board, the last thing she saw was more eruptions of gold and white. Then, everything was clouded into black.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Though defeat hung heavily over her head and she was covered in soot of all kinds, Katara was still very capable of looking intimidating. Since she was able to accomplish such, she could glare at Meng without looking quite so ridiculous.

"Come on."

"No."

"You have to tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"No."

Katara stopped what could be an endless and pointless exchange. She let out an angry sigh instead.

"There's nothing to say," Meng pouted.

"I'm _not_ an idiot," Katara said hotly, brushing away loose strands over burnt hair. "I've known for a little while you're hiding something. Zuko turns up, and then he sort of disappears. Then Aang will just…disappear one, two, sometimes three hours a day. You've been walking around with a smile—of course you know something!" She finished off in agitation.

Meng looked up from the ground and matched her glare. "No."

"Come on Meng," Sokka joined in angrily, though it was only from being fed up from hearing them bicker for the last five minutes. "Just tell us what Zuko was up to, or something."

"No."

"Why won't you tell us anything?" Katara said, her voice cracking. "What have you got to lose? Tell us what Aang and Zuko were doing…_please_."

"Why are you being so nosy?" Meng suddenly shouted. "Why do you care? Why does this matter, when the fire nation's won? You can't tell I'm upset, do you?" Infuriated, she wiped away a tear.

"You don't have to be so upset," Katara said as gently as she could, though her teeth were noticeably clenched. "This could help us!"

"Yeah? How?"

The question stung Katara like a slap on the face. She blinked, opened her mouth, and then closed it and glared once again. Silence ensued for minutes on end.

"Meng?"

"No."

And the argument was over.

After the verbal cat fight, there was not much else to take interest in. Katara sat back down with her tired brother, who was leaning against a tree twiddling mutely with his boomerang. Meng went away to be with Aunt Wu. Momo remained as a sort of spirit-lifter, one who could sniff hands and lick faces. Appa, on the other hand, was gone; naturally, for he was the last bison to go along with the last air-bender.

The battle had finished, and then the group had nothing else to do but stay in the village, for the fire nation had no reason to take _them_ along. Katara did what she could for the wounded, and Sokka helped put out the flames to keep them from spreading to the forest. The ones dead and mortally wounded still remained untouched. As polite as it was to bury them respectfully, they were a sight too squeamish to tread near.

Then, the footsteps came.

They came from near the center of the village. Soft steps came towards them, gingerly stepping away from fallen remains. Neither water tribe sibling could fathom who it was. It was too steady to be a wounded person, yet too gentle to be a brute soldier. Both were on the edge of being worried for their safety, yet not quite frightened enough to move from their spots. They lazily sat and waited to see who it was.

"Well, what have we here?" A voice chuckled pleasantly. Katara blinked and looked around. It was the jolly-looking fat man, the one who Zuko would always call "Uncle". He was the only fire nation man she could ever remember not despising. She felt her spirits lift a tad.

Sokka, on the other hand, viewed the comment as much more mysterious, much more evil. "You're that guy who's always with Prince Zuko," He observed, frowning. "Why aren't you with the others who've already gone?" He pointed towards the open sea.

The man smiled gently, knowing it had been a distressing day for them, but he knew quite clearly in both his mind and his heart that by tomorrow, the clouds will clear up. "You can call me Uncle Iroh," He said in his deep voice, sitting down cross-legged next to them. "Now, why would I have any reason to go with Azula?"

"You're fire nation, aren't you?" Sokka pointed out, gesturing towards the trademark robes.

"So if one dog bites you, do you consider all the rest of them just as bad?" Uncle Iroh inquired.

"No," Katara murmured, "But…the fire nation doesn't have just one bad one that bites. And they've done much worse than biting."

"True, true," Uncle Iroh said, stroking his beard. "But still, why be so rude to an old man who just wants some company and nice talk, fire nation or not?"

"Well we're not in the mood for talking," Sokka said grumpily.

"Why is that?"

"Are you blind, old man?! Our friend, the Avatar, just got kidnapped! The fire nation has practically won the war! Now that the Avatar isn't good for fighting, the people will have no hope in fighting! The only good thing that's happened today is that the creep who keeps trying to hunt us down and capture the Avatar is gone too!"

"Hmm…" Uncle Iroh pondered. "Well, Zuko is hard to deal with at times. In fact, he's hard to deal with all the time." Uncle Iroh chuckled, and Katara gave a small smile. "However, I never recalled someone calling him a 'creep' before. But it _is_ a good thing that he was taken along with the Avatar."

"…Okay…" Sokka said, a bit of bewilderment mixing in with his eyes.

"Why's that?" Katara said.

"Would you two like to have some tea while we talk about this?" Uncle Iroh said, sounding seemingly random.

"Ye—" Katara began to say, but Sokka cut her off with a hand over her mouth.

"Whatever you're telling us, is it…it's probably what Meng's hiding from us," Sokka said wondrously in half a question, half a statement.

"I couldn't answer that myself, for I don't know what's on Meng's mind," Uncle Iroh said. "But this conversation is important. I suggest some nice, steaming Formosa Tea to go with it."

Katara gave Sokka a look. Sokka raised an eyebrow at Katara. In the end, the same thought remained in their heads: _What have we got to lose? _

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A peaceful atmosphere had settled in Fire Lord Ozai's royal palace. With the knowledge that his prized daughter had gone with nearly the entire nation's military, with the exception of those keeping watch of other nation's cities already under the rule of the fire nation, Ozai was in a pleased mood. Azula would be back by the next sunset, with the most powerful man on earth in chains. Not to mention his son, the Avatar's _soul-mate_.

Lord Ozai chuckled softly. It was ridiculous, but after all, that was the nature of things. Love being seen as good, disregarding it seen as automatic evil, and so on. Why would he need love, when he was about to rule the world?

It was then when two figures appeared.

They were translucent figures, and the tinge of blue could remind one faintly of lightening; bright, electronic blue lightening. One was shorter and naïve looking, with large white eyes and an odd-looking arrow coming from the back of his neck to the end of his forehead. He walked around and looked with everything with his young eyes, twirling a wooden staff in his hands.

The taller one was clearly older and the more experienced. Bad experience, it seemed from the horrible scar over his left eye. He walked with the other, his armor a sharp contrast from his companion's comfortable-looking garments. An angry look filled his amber eyes as he looked around, recognizing his old home and being reminded of bad memories.

The ghostly figures continued to walk silently, following the Fire Lord into his throne room. The jaw of the taller one was now noticeably clenched. His eyes flitted towards the side, and realized that the shorter one was facing him. A look of reassurance given, and then the taller nodded slightly, ready to keep moving steadily. They walked behind the great throne, next to the glowing hot flames spurting from the floors.

They allowed some silence, some time to allow the Fire Lord do his thinking, or whatever he was doing. Then, continuous cracklings of the fire were broken when the taller one spoke out.

"Hello father," The Chang Ai said.

There was an odd noise, a sort of obscured gasp, and then a quiet rustling of cloth signified Lord Ozai had stood up. The powerful man came around to the back of his throne cautiously, yet still imposing. When he saw who stood there, he carefully guarded his surprise.

"I was under the impression you two were coming home on Azula's ships," He said coldly. The use of informality was carefully noted. He described the castle as _home_, and the gigantic fire nation fleet as _Azula's ships_. It was a mystery; did he want to seem friendly? Or did he hold such a small amount of care for his son that he did not bother sound important for him?

"We are," The Avatar said surprisingly cheerfully. "Well…if you could call them still Azula's." He looked challengingly into the eyes of the Fire Lord. "They've probably sunk to the bottom of the ocean now."

The Avatar found himself to be carefully observed from top to bottom. "You are the Avatar?" Lord Ozai said. He received nothing more than a nod. "Hn…well then, I made a mistake for taking you so seriously. You are nothing more than a child, making up ridiculous stories for his elder's to hear and be entertained."

"He's not lying, _father_," Zuko grounded out, eyebrows already knitting together in the beginning sparks of anger. "You think Azula's great at everything? You think she always wins at whatever she comes by? Think again."

"We're going to have to defeat you now," Aang said, still sounding strangely happy. "Even if I can sort of think of you as family, you've scorched too many lives with this war. It's a pointless battle, and you have to stop."

"Pointless?" Lord Ozai repeated disbelievingly. "This war is far beyond pointless, Avatar. This war proves the fire element to be great, stronger, and magnificent in comparison to all others. We have been right so far. Why stop now?"

"No, Ozai, you're wrong," The Chang Ai said, his voice staggering only slightly.

Lord Ozai's head snapped around to stare steely into the eyes of his son. "What was that, Zuko?"

The Chang Ai took a deep breath. "I love the fire element, Ozai, but the nature of things can go better when it is balanced out with three elements just as good."

"I would watch your attitude if I were you," Lord Ozai said in a hard tone. "You have already dishonored yourself and smudged the fine family name. Don't think to go further by tempting me to scar you again."

"You can't harm us, Ozai," The Chang Ai said. The fight was edging closer, but to him, he had already won. He could finally look at his father without fear, and think of him without wishing for some respect. To him, he was already victorious.

"But we can harm you," The Avatar said, now beginning to radiate shining white power. "I'm really sorry to see you go…I was never really good at killing people. But…"

"We have to," They both finished, united, and unbeatable.

La Fin.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N - To all my reviewers, you have a wonderfully valid reason for hating me and not reviewing, so I grant you permission to do such. I'm very sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been trying to focus on school. I'm also sorry for the rather depressing chapter, I've been in a bad mood this past week. I promise an epilogue, though, to hopefully make up for it a bit. Happy 2008 to everybody!! n-n


	11. Chapter 11 epilogue!

**Fortune-telling**

Summary: Aang is confused and tries to clear things up with a visit with Aunt Wu. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Warning: This is yaoi, slash, boy/boy, M/M, if you don't like that then get out. If I get any flames for this reason, it's not going to be my fault.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Sadly, I don't own Zuko or Jet either. :(

.:Epilogue:.

After the war…

Azula survived the Battle of Drowning Ships, as it was now called, but with a new take on life. After experiencing the shame and embarrassment of losing, she naturally spent time in bitter moping. After two years finally ended, however, she became tolerable to some, even likeable to others. She now still lives in the Fire Lord's Palace, carefully watched.

As one can expect, Iroh explained the main points of the situation to the water tribe siblings. After all, they were Aang's friends, so they had a right to know what was going on. He was not worried for his nephew when he found out that Azula had taken him away, because he knew Zuko would be alright as long as he was teamed up with Aang.

Sokka gave Aang and Zuko his best wishes, though rather awkwardly. He found it strange that the boy he thought of as another little sibling could be involved in…sexual things, but Aang saved the world that way, so he was rather proud of him. In the end, Sokka found importance for himself back home in the South Water Tribe, where he helped build the little village up back to supremacy. The young man, still obsessed with the art of fighting, kindly refused to become Chief of the Water Tribe and settled with War General instead.

Katara preferred to stay with her beloved little friend, so she settled down in the Fire Nation as a sort of…ambassador for her brother. Naturally, she never got along with Zuko, but she had always appreciated his masculine beauty. Naturally, she could never stop her joking gushes to Aang of what a catch he made.

Meng took the deceased Aunt Wu's place as fortune-teller of her darling village, which had been rebuilt from the generous funds of Fire Lord Zuko. She admitted herself that she was never quite as near to perfection as the master that had taught her, but she knew for certain that one of her predictions was valid.

After all, it came true.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

High-pitched giggles and laughs echoed down the regal halls. Then, quick little footsteps followed. Four small children came into view.

They were pretty little things, seemingly fragile but at the same time they radiated power. They wore regal, dark red clothing, but at the same time they were childish and frolicsome. Three had dark brown hair, nearly black but not quite so. The one left out had pretty, chestnut braids that had certainly never been seen in the fire nation's royal ancestry line.

There was one girl who was most obviously a brash one, whose pale skin blurred as she ran much more swiftly than the others. She would grin, with large smoky eyes and a rather masculine long nose, and not care of whatever happened to the fanciful hair she would always get from the ladies that served her.

The little boy second to her still surprisingly fast for the amount of solidity he put into his steps. There was a joyful smile and neatly trimmed hair that gave off a cute, yet rather dorky, appearance. His round grey eyes always stayed wide and open, curiously taking in surroundings even though he had already probably examined every nook and canny in the palace.

Then there was the girl with the shining chestnut braids, the one who would skip brightly instead of a crude run. She hummed peacefully in rhythm with each step she took, her childishly pudgy limbs awkward but graceful at the same time. Tilting her head sideways, she held out a hand to her brother.

Said brother shook his head in polite refusal, and then evened it out by immaturely sticking his tongue out. His sister huffed and skipped ahead of him, and he opened up his big, toothy smile and giggled. Gathering up his energy, he breathed out in hot, ragged little smokes and ran up to ahead of his sister and to even up with his brother.

Just when their exploring footsteps began to fall in an uneven rhythm, one of them came to a halt and yelled out, "Papa Aang!"

"I'd _think_ he could usually take care of himself, but since Sokka's in there—" Aang, who had been talking to a rather short young woman with light teal eyes, turned around to see who had addressed him. "Hey!" He laughed out, and the childish side came leaping back out of him. All four children squealed and collided into his open arms.

"What a heartfelt moment," The woman mumbled, still staring blankly ahead despite the scurry by her feet. "If I hadn't heard you guys shrieking with laughter, I would've thought the Avatar was being assaulted before my very…feet."

An older Aang, regardless of a more defined jaw line and taller muscles, was still open to being immature. He promptly stuck out his tongue towards the woman. "Hey kids, you remember Auntie Tophie, right?"

"Oh no you didn't," Toph growled, while the children burst into laughter and began chanting: "Auntie Tophie, Auntie Tophie, Auntie, Toooooophieeeeeeeee!"

"Okay, okay," Aang sighed good-naturedly. "Come on kids, let's stop and find someone else to bother. I mean it, Kameko. Kameko!"

The scolded child, Kameko, pouted a bit but followed Aang's commands. Out of all his children, Aang found Kameko most like the Fire Lord; rebellious towards his parents, yet at the same time doing nothing more than being himself.

"Daddy, is it true Papa-Zuko is having another boring meeting?" The girl with chestnut braids sighed as she brought her chin up in the air in an exaggerated manner, her eyes wide with anticipation for the answer.

"No, he isn't," Aang tsk-ed, "_Papa-Zuko_ is having a very exciting meeting. They're playing cartwheels and running races and even hide-and-seek over in the throne room. Shame on you for making fun of Papa-Zuko."

"Sorry," She responded, taking the answer almost genuinely.

"Hey Mai Hua, you know what?" Kameko piped up. "You're really stupid sometimes."

The girl with the swift running speed rolled her eyes at her brother. "Shut up Kameko, better be stupid than a loser-face."

"Papa-Aang," Kameko complained, stomping his foot now. "Papa-Aang, there's no such thing as a loser-face, is there? Matsura's just being mean, isn't she?"

"Stop fighting and hug each other," Aang demanded with a stern face, trying his best to hide the amused little smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"No!"

"Papa-Aang, you're being unfair!"

"Hey Papa-Aang," Said the boy with the steady, confident steps. "Can we go play hide-and-seek with Papa-Zuko?"

"'Course," Aang said, a rather mischievous old glint shining in his eyes. "But Dong Zhi, don't you wanna play cartwheels and races too?"

"But they're boring," The young boy sighed. "And you said that Sokka's there, so it's a lot more fun to play hide-and-seek with Papa-Zuko _and_ Sokka!"

Kameko had had enough. "_We're not playing games with Papa-Zuko!_" He huffed, crossing his small arms and glaring at his siblings. "We're gonna go there and there's gonna be nothing but boring old people talking about boring old stuff."

"Papa-Zuko isn't that old," Aang said, pressing a pondering chin on a pondering fist. "'Course, he started growing a cute beard last month, so..."

"Ewww," Kameko explained, now choosing to scowl vigorously at Aang. "I thought I told you never to say icky stuff about Papa-Zuko ever again!"

"That wasn't icky stuff," Aang argued gently.

"Was too."

"Guys, come on!" Mai Hua suddenly cried from the midst of nowhere. Aang and Kameko looked up to see that two of the children had already ran to relocate the throne room, where their dear Papa-Zuko was having lots of fun playing games. Briskly, Aang swung two of his children into his arms and within the next second he had used his air-bending speed to match up with Matsuka and Dong Zhi.

"Papa-Aang, let's race!" Matsuka shouted joyfully.

"Race it is!" Aang said cheerfully. He set Mai Hua and Kameko down and mimed running supernaturally fast, though in reality he was running in one of the slowest speeds he had ever reached. "Come on Matsuka," He urged, "You can do better than that."

And before long, little Matsuka had reached a full twenty yards ahead of her father. Aang grinned, but modestly kept his own pace while the rest of his children squealed and sped up to join her. Before long, they had disappeared into a corner out of his sight.

Almost ten years of having lived in the Fire Lord's Palace finally taught him the twists and turns. He was quite sure that they had run straight into the throne room, though as bright of a man he was, he was never quite good with the endless hallways of this accursed place. As a nomad, he had always naturally preferred the open air and wide, green fields.

There were some deep, amused chuckles, childhood shouts and outcries of laughter, and one small agitated growl that Aang was certain he recognized quite well. The Avatar fell back to a comfortable, slow stroll and began whistling an old tune he'd been taught by Gyatsu. He deemed that there was really nothing wrong with giving his dear Fire Lord a bit of excitement in his everyday life, if not from himself, then at least the children. After all, it was all good educational experience to hang out in the throne room.

When he finally turned around and stepped in the throne room with a friendly "GOOD MORNING!" to everybody, Zuko was near to bursting from annoyance.

There was the Fire Lord, the Avatar's Fire Lord, sitting at the head of the table instead of his usual throne with distinctly royal robes and a tall stature. His hair could have kept growing until it reached the traditional style of the royal men in his family line, yet he preferred not to grow it any longer than past his shoulders. It was a shaggy look that was strangely elegant next to the neat little beard, a shape that reminded some of an upside-down tear drop. He still kept his strong muscles and powerful jaw, yet at the moment the focus was the burning amber eyes that was frowning on Aang from irritation of his children bouncing around the table.

Cheekily, Aang blew a kiss back at him.

"Aang, buddy ol' pal!" Sokka shouted, waving a large, friendly hand.

"Hey Sokka, nice armor!" Aang shouted back, complimenting the modernized water tribe armor, with powerful silver chest plates and small, colorfully-beaded animal pelts as shoulder pads. He winked and gave him a thumbs up.

"Come on, Papa-Zuko, let's play hide-and-seek with Sokka!" Mai Hua said sweetly, egging his father on and tugging at a loose sleeve.

"Papa-Zuko," A couple of people sitting at the long table chuckled, "Still can't get over that."

"Well I thought it was a good method to teach our children," Aang said conversationally. "After all, they can't call me mother since I'm a _man_!" He then showed off his extreme macho madness by flexing some arm muscles.

Zuko's eyes almost momentarily dropped out of irritation and into a lustful state as he saw what Aang was doing, and then he shook himself out of it. "Can't you tell them I'll play hide-and-seek later?" He said, trying to sound as angry as possible. Again, chuckles rippled up and down the table.

"Aw, that's really cute ZuZu," Sokka said, "You playing little games with the kids. You're such a little lover boy."

"Okay guys, sorry for the disappointment, I guess they're not playing cartwheels here today after all," Aang said, clapping his hands for his children's attention. "Later Sokka! Sorry Katara's not here today, she wanted to go shopping."

"No prob!" Sokka shouted back.

"Ugh, I knew Papa-Aang was lying again," Kameko rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Kameko."

"Yeah Kameko, shut up."

"Tell them to stop fighting too!" Zuko demanded, massaging his temples.

Aang smiled. "I love you," He whispered, stopping for a split second where he stood and simply stared into the amber eyes of his forever lover. Then, he continued to usher his children out the door.

Zuko raised an eyebrow as he watched his forever lover's retreating back. "I love you, too," He whispered, only loud enough for he, himself to hear. Then, he too snapped out of his daze and looked round the table.

"So...ahem, what were we talking about?"

"Gay rights, or something?"

"Hn, right. You're hosting the parade, Sokka."

"What?!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N - **A worthless little epilogue I have here, which turned out nothing like I thought it would be. Oh well. I hoped it was a good ending, anyway. .

Just for clarification:

Matsuka - air

Dong Zhi - earth

Mai Hua - water

Kameko - fire

(listed in order from when I first introduced and described them)

Because I wanted all of their children to represent an element. Alright everybody, time to celebrate the true ending of this story! Thanks for all the love in your reviews! 3 n-n


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